Two Microsoft employees have been fired after taking part in a sit-in at the office of the company’s president to protest the firm’s ties to Israel, Reuters reports.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the workers were terminated following “serious breaches of company policies and our code of conduct” stemming from “the break-in at the executive offices.”
Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli received voicemails informing them that they were fired, the protest group No Azure for Apartheid said in a statement.
They were among seven protesters who were arrested earlier this week after occupying the office of company President Brad Smith. The other five were former Microsoft workers and people outside the company.
“We are here because Microsoft continues to provide Israel with the tools it needs to commit genocide while gaslighting and misdirecting its own workers about this reality,” Hattle said in a statement.
No Azure for Apartheid, whose name references Microsoft’s Azure software, has demanded that the company cut its ties to Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians.
