Five current and ex-Microsoft workers arrested at sit-in over Israeli military ties
At least two current and three former Microsoft employees – as well as two other tech workers – were arrested at the company’s headquarters after staging a sit-in demonstration at the company president’s office urging that Microsoft cut ties with the Israeli government,Police placed the protesters in full-body harnesses and carried them out of the building, according to Abdo Mohamed, a former Microsoft worker and who helped organize the demonstration,“No arrests, no violence, will deter us from continuing to speak up,” he said,In addition to the protesters who staged a sit-in at Microsoft president Brad Smith’s office, other employees, former staff and supporters had gathered outside the headquarters,The demonstration on Tuesday was part of a series of actions organized by current and former staff over Microsoft’s cloud contracts with the Israeli government.
Twenty activists were arrested at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, last week,The latest protests came after a joint investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call revealed earlier this month that Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, was making use of Microsoft’s Azure software to store countless recordings of mobile phone calls made by Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza,The company has said it was not aware “of the surveillance of civilians or collection of their cellphone conversations using Microsoft’s services”,Sign up to Headlines USGet the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningafter newsletter promotionMicrosoft did not immediately respond to a query from the Guardian on Tuesday,The company said it was launching an independent investigation into the use of its Azure software, but activists wanted to escalate actions due to what they viewed as inadequate action from the company.
“You continue to try to bury your head in the sand, so we are here today outside your blood-soaked thrones, to continue pulling your baby-killer necks out of your sand holes and continue to force you to confront your complicity, until you stop powering the murdering of our people,” said Ibtihal Aboussad, one of the protesters who delivered a speech outside the company headquarters on Tuesday.Meanwhile, Microsoft has been taking extraordinary measures to quell demonstrations, which have been ongoing for months.According to a report from Bloomberg, the company has requested help from the FBI to track protests, and worked with local authorities to stop them.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
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The Spin | ‘I’ll bat anywhere for England’: in-form Jordan Cox confident of making the step up
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Stan to show more ads despite price hike amid ‘extraordinary’ Premier League impact
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Coco Gauff digs deep to survive Ajla Tomljanović test in US Open marathon
Coco Gauff survived a shaky serving performance to battle past Ajla Tomljanović in the first round of the US Open, winning 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 after 2hr 57min on Tuesday night.The No 3 seed finished with 10 double faults, was broken six times and squandered a string of opportunities to close the contest earlier, but conjured enough resilience to scrape into round two under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium.Gauff appeared in control after winning five of six games from a break down to take the opener and twice leading by a break in the second. Yet she faltered when serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, conceding two double faults and a pair of forehand errors as Tomljanović levelled at 5-5.The 21-year-old American responded instantly, breaking back before sealing victory at her second attempt with a crisp backhand winner down the line, lifting her arms to the crowd in relief as much as celebration
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