Microsoft Still Tied to Israeli Military After Protests
One year after a series of protests against Microsoft's ties to the Israeli military, organizers say the company still needs to cut its contracts. The demonstrations began in August last year when workers, former employees, and community activists set up an encampment at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. Protesters claimed that Microsoft technology was used for mass surveillance during the War in Gaza.
Hossam Nasr, a former software engineer for Microsoft who was arrested twice during the protests, said 'For us to stand up and say what is right and speak truth to power, that is the least that we can do.' A month after a sit-in protest at the office of Brad Smith, Microsoft's President, the company cut some cloud services to an Israeli military unit.
Nasr stated, 'It's validation that direct action works, that escalation works, and through collective power we can claw back some wins from these multi-trillion-dollar corporations.'