Microsoft has halted some of its services, related to Azure software, to Israeli military unit after initial inquiry has endorsed the findings of Guardian on mass surveillance of Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza.
A media investigation, published in August, by the Guardian and other media outlets said that an Israeli military agency is storing mobile phone recordings of Palestinians by using Azure.
This led to protests by Microsoft employees, some of which were also fired for protesting. Now an internal inquiry suggests that findings of the media investigation are, in fact correct.
“We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said. Certain subscriptions of Israel’s Ministry of Defense have been disabled by Microsoft.
Palestinian rights groups have welcomed this move by Microsoft, one of the most prominent companies that came under fire for relations with Israel and enabling its actions and brutality in Gaza.
Read More: Microsoft Fires Four Employees Over Protests Against Enabling Israel
In late August, Microsoft fired four employees for protesting against Azure’s use by Israeli military. Two of the employees did a sit-in at the executive office while the other two set up encampments at Microsoft’s Redmond campus.
Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli, part of an activist group named “No Azure for Apartheid” staged a sit-in occupying the office of Microsoft President Brad Smith. They were among seven protesters, two current staff and five former employees or outside activists, who were arrested.
At the Redmond campus, Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan set up encampments and were fired alongside Hattle and Fameli. Microsoft cited “serious breaches of company policies” as the reason for firing the employees.
One of the fired protesters, Hattle, said: “We are here because Microsoft continues to provide Israel with the tools it needs to commit genocide while gaslighting and misdirecting its own workers about this reality.”
Activists cited the same joint media investigative by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call.
Now, after Microsoft’s initial inquiry endorses the findings, no statement has surfaced yet about the employees who were fired for protesting on the basis of these very same findings.
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