(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/27/2024) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and its Washington state chapter (CAIR-WA) today called on Microsoft to rehire and apologize to two employees who were reportedly fired for organizing a vigil at the company’s headquarters for Palestinians killed in the far-right Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza.
Those Microsoft employees were allegedly fired several hours after the vigil they organized at Microsoft’s head office in Redmond, Washington. The fired employees say the event was similar to other Microsoft-sanctioned campaigns for people in need. Microsoft said it “cannot provide specific details” about the firings.
Israel has already slaughtered almost 43,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and has destroyed most of the civilian infrastructure, forcibly displaced almost all of the civilian population, and imposed forced starvation.
“This is yet another illustration of how employees of conscience, who are standing up for the human rights issue of our time, are being silenced in the corporate world,” said CAIR-WA Executive Director Imraan Siddiqi.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Time after time, we see the ‘except for Palestine’ rule applied whenever anyone dares to defend the human rights, humanity and dignity of the Palestinian people. In any other context, a corporation would celebrate its employees standing up for human rights and against genocide – ‘except for Palestine.’ This hypocritical double standard must end. Microsoft must rehire these principled employees and apologize for its biased actions that appear to support Israel’s genocide and to deny Palestinian humanity.”
He noted that yesterday, CAIR demanded that the Biden administration take concrete actions to stop Israeli’s genocide after the United Nation’s top humanitarian aid official said, “the entire population of North Gaza is at risk of dying.”
Last week, CAIR said the Israeli government’s latest slaughter of babies and children in Gaza should “shock the conscience” of Biden administration officials supporting the genocide in Gaza.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.