LONDON: Microsoft workers and activists are continuing to demand that the tech giant cut all ties with Israel, even after the company halted access to some Azure cloud and artificial intelligence services for a key Israeli military unit.
On Thursday, protesters unfurled banners at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, one reading “MICROSOFT BUILD KILLS,” adorned with images of warplanes and missiles dropping from the Azure cloud logo.
The demonstration followed news that Microsoft had ended Israeli military Unit 8200’s access to certain Azure services, after reports that its technology was used in a surveillance system collecting millions of Palestinian phone calls in Gaza and the West Bank.
The campaign, led by current and former Microsoft employees under the banner “No Azure for Apartheid,” says these steps do not go far enough.
“Even after announcing the Unit 8200 cut, why does Microsoft continue to shut down the conversation? It’s the only way they can continue to get away with their half-measure,” said Scott Suftin-Glowski, a former Microsoft worker who resigned in protest, accusing the company of “continued complicity in genocide.”
