Microsoft recently terminated two employees, Abdo Mohamed and Hossam Nasr, following their organisation of an unauthorised vigil at the company’s headquarters. The event was held to mourn Palestinians killed in Gaza amid ongoing conflict. Both individuals, originally from Egypt, were part of an employee coalition called “No Azure for Apartheid,” which has previously protested Microsoft’s sale of cloud-computing technology to the Israeli government.
According to the Associated Press, Mohamed and Nasr asserted that their vigil was intended as a humanitarian act similar to Microsoft’s employee-giving campaigns. However, the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism had previously flagged one of the employees for his outspoken views on Israel and called for action from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Microsoft responded by citing internal policy, stating that it had “ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy” and reiterated its commitment to a respectful work environment, without providing further specifics on the dismissal.
Following the vigil, Nasr noted that his dismissal was publicised by Stop Antisemitism on social media even before he had received notification from Microsoft.
