The office of the president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, was yesterday. Seven people affiliated with a group known as "No Azure for Apartheid" were arrested and eventually removed from Smith's office by local police. Two of the seven are said to be current Microsoft employees.
, the protesters livestreamed themselves on Twitch entering Microsoft's building 34 and occupying the president's office. The video . Microsoft temporarily locked the building down in response.
According to , their core aim is to force Microsoft to, "live up to its own purported ethical values—by ending its direct and indirect complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide." The group wants Microsoft to cut ties with Israel, the most notable alleged example of which involves claims that its Azure cloud platform has been misused by the Israeli military as part of the surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza.
in his office after the protesters had left and said that a revealing the use of Azure by the Israeli military was a "fair job" but that [[link]] ".”
He reportedly emphasised the vast majority of the company’s work for the Israeli Defense Force is to, “protect the cybersecurity of the State of Israel.” He also added, “we cannot do everything that we [[link]] might wish to change the world, but we know our role. We’re here to provide technology in a principled and ethical way.”
What's more he signalled that he wasn't against protests, per se. “People can go protest in public spaces, whether it’s at the Redmond Transit Center or in a kayak on a public lake outside my house,” he said.
Reportedly, protesters took to Lake Washington in kayaks on Sunday, hoisting banners reading “Microsoft Kills Kids” in front of the homes of Smith and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.