After Google, Microsoft fires 2 employees over protests against Israel

Microsoft fired two of its employees for organising an unauthorised vigil at the company's United States headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

The duo had organised a vigil at the campus for Palestinians being killed in Gaza in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to a report by The Independent.

Both the employees, who reportedly said that they were laid-off on a phone call on Thursday, were members of coalition of employees called 'No Azure for Apartheid'.

The coalition opposes sale of Microsoft's cloud-computing technology to Israel and contended that the vigil was of the same nature as to those Microsoft events which sanction employee gift campaigns for needy people.

According to the publication's report, a researcher and data scientist Abdelrahman Mohamed said, "We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones. But Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves."

While refusing to provide specific details, Microsoft said that due to internal policy, it has ended the employment of some.

One of those fired -- Mohamed who is from Egypt -- said that he now needs a new job within two months to transfer a work visa to avoid deportation.

According to The Independent, the other fired employee Hossam Nasr said that the aim of the vigil was to 'honour the victims of the Palestinian genocide in Gaza' and bring to notice the involvement of the company in the genocide citing the use of its technology usage access by the Israeli military.

Nasr claimed that even before he received the phone call about his firing, the happening was disclosed on social media by a group named 'Stop Antisemitism'.

Months earlier, this group had called on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to take action against Nasr for his stances on Israel.

According to the publication's report, Microsoft, in its statement over the firings, said that it is 'dedicated to maintaining a professional and respectful work environment'. "Due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we cannot provide specific details," it said.

In April, Google had also fired 50 employees after they protested against the company's Project Nimbus, through which it supports the Israeli military.