Microsoft workers with anti-Israel message interrupt company event, get fired

Microsoft reportedly fired an employee who disrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration event to voice their opposition to its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to Israel.

While two employees protested at the event, a Microsoft spokesperson told Fox Business that one employee “resigned and the other was “let go.”

As Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman spoke at the event, Ibtihal Aboussad began shouting at him, accusing him of being “a war profiteer.” She demanded that Suleyman “stop using AI for genocide.”

“Mustafa, shame on you. You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,” Aboussad shouted. 

Suleyman thanked Aboussad for her protest and said, “I hear you.”

As security led her out of the room, Aboussad said that “All of Microsoft has blood on its hands” and that the company is “killing children.”

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Microsoft allegedly told Aboussad that her employment was being terminated over “acts of misconduct,” according to The Verge.

The second protester, Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a panel featuring Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. In her protest, Agrawal shouted that “50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology.” She then accused the attendees and the people on stage of “celebrating on their blood.” 

Agrawal demanded the company “cut ties with Israel.”

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The group No Azure for Apartheid seemed to claim responsibility for the protests in posts on its Instagram page. The group identified Aboussad as a “member” and Agrawal as an “organizer.” No Azure for Apartheid wrote in a Monday Instagram post that both Aboussad and Agrawal had been “officially fired.”

No Azure for Apartheid writes on its Instagram page that it is a group of “Microsoft workers demanding that Microsoft terminate all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and government.” 

Microsoft, which has its Israel R&D Center in Tel Aviv, has fired other employees associated with No Azure for Apartheid. In October 2024, Abdelrahman Mohamed and Hossam Nasr were allegedly fired over an unauthorized vigil for Gaza at the company’s headquarters, according to CNBC. Microsoft allegedly said it had “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy” but did not give CNBC any other details.