(SEATTLE, WA, 4/8/2025) – The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA), a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today praised two former Microsoft employees who were fired for protesting at a recent event, and calls on the tech company to end their contracts providing AI and cloud services to the Israeli military as it commits genocide against the Palestinian people.
In February, an investigation by the Associated Press revealed that Microsoft’s AI services are used by the Israeli military, including to decide on targets for bombing.
During Microsoft’s fiftieth anniversary celebration on April 4, Ibtihal Aboussad interrupted the keynote address, and later that day, Vaniya Agrawal interrupted an event with all three of Microsoft’s CEOs, past and present. Both employees called out Microsoft’s complicity in the genocide against the Palestinian people.
On Monday, Microsoft fired Aboussad, and made Agrawal’s resignation, which she had filed in a company-wide email after her protest, effective immediately.
See: Microsoft workers say they’ve been fired after 50th anniversary protest over Israel contract
“There isn’t much more that needs to be said after seeing 18 months of Israeli mass destruction, slaughter of women and children, ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and genocide,” said Imraan Siddiqi, CAIR-WA Executive Director. “The employees are firmly on the right side of history, yet these corporations are constantly showing they favor profit and shareholder value over human lives. This has to end.”
In October 2024, two Microsoft employees 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.
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.