Protesters occupy Microsoft HQ, demand it cut ties with Israeli military

Microsoft employees were milling about a lunchtime farmers market the company holds when about 30 masked protesters rolled in on bicycles.

The demonstrators quickly took over a portion of Microsoft’s East Plaza, where they erected a “Liberated Zone” sign.

Wednesday was the second day in a row protesters with the group No Azure for Apartheid gathered on Microsoft’s campus demanding the company cut ties with the Israel military. The demonstrations follow an investigation by The Guardian and Palestinian and Israeli news outlets revealing a surveillance program run on Microsoft’s Azure cloud services.

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Security guards immediately descended on the scene, followed by Redmond police officers. Protesters attempted to take down barriers erected by police.

Later, they began taking tents and tables from the farmers market to create a barricade. Vendors selling organic produce and flowers dismantled their stalls, ending the market early.

In a statement, Microsoft accused the protesters of vandalism and property damage.

“As we have made clear, Microsoft is committed to its human rights standards and contractual terms of service, including in the Middle East,” a spokesperson said. “The company announced last week that it is pursuing a thorough and independent review of new allegations first reported earlier this month about the purported use of its Azure platform in Israel.”

Julius Shan, a software engineer for Microsoft, spoke at the protest.

“ As both a Microsoft employee and an American citizen, I have a duty to use my voice to speak up when others cannot,” he said.

Shan said he’s been suspended from Microsoft and expects to be fired.

“ I'm okay with that,” he said. “I want to move on from working in technology knowing that so many of the large companies are complicit, empowering things like genocide and war crime. I'm happy to move on.”

Not everyone at the protest shared Shan’s conviction. Several of the employees gathered to watch the demonstration said they were supportive of its mission, but feared losing their jobs if they spoke out. Hovering over the event was the specter of layoffs, which Microsoft has carried out regularly over the past two years.

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That was a fear for A.N., who asked to be identified only by her initials.

“ I just had a baby not too long ago and I need my job,” she said.

Still, A.N. said she’s heartbroken by what she’s seen of the war in Gaza.

“I have a kid now,” she said. “You see some of the stories that are coming out and it's people like me who might have lost their kid or lost their family members. Knowing that we're connected to something like that is really sucky, and sucky not the right word for it, but I don’t what else to say right now.”

After a couple of hours, and several warnings, police began arresting a handful of protesters. The demonstration then moved nearby to public property.

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