On Tuesday, a group of current and former Microsoft employees, along with community members, occupied a plaza at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, as part of the "No Azure for Apartheid" protest movement. The protesters renamed the plaza from East Campus Plaza to "Square for Martyred Palestinian Children" to express their strong opposition to Microsoft's cooperation with the Israeli military.

This protest is part of the "No Azure for Apartheid" campaign, initiated by the Microsoft branch of the "Tech Workers Against Apartheid" organization. According to a press release from the organizers, approximately 50 people participated at the start of the event.

Protesters set up tents on site and installed art installations to commemorate casualties in the Gaza region, including shrouds and a large sign reading "Stop Starving Gaza." They also set up a negotiation table with a sign inviting Microsoft executives to "come to the negotiating table" to end the company's cooperation with the Israeli military.

The organization stated they plan to occupy the plaza until they are forcibly removed. Microsoft has not yet responded to requests for comment.

This protest activity continues a series of high-profile demonstrations targeting Microsoft and its executives in recent months. In April, during Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration, a software engineer from the company's AI department interrupted Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's speech, calling for an end to the Israeli military's use of Microsoft AI products. On the same day, at another Microsoft event, another software engineer also interrupted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's speech with similar protests. Microsoft subsequently fired both employees.

A month later, Microsoft employees revealed that the company began blocking Microsoft Outlook emails containing words such as "Palestine," "Gaza," "genocide," "apartheid," and "Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) off Azure."

The "No Azure for Apartheid" organization described this action as the "largest escalation action" against Microsoft to date in their press release. The organization also referenced an investigation conducted earlier this month that revealed the Israeli government's attempts to store recordings and data of up to "one million calls per hour" from Palestinians, with these call contents directly affecting Israel's military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Additionally, protesters distributed a document titled "We Will Not Be Cogs in Israel's Genocide Machine: A Call for Worker Uprising." This document, written by "Microsoft employees, former employees, and conscientious community members," calls for Microsoft to sever all ties with Israel. The document also calls for "ending genocide and forced starvation," demands reparations for Palestinians, and an end to Microsoft's "discrimination against Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and pro-Palestinian employees," while "protecting all employees participating in pro-Palestinian activities from harm and workplace harassment."

The document also urges Microsoft employees to "speak out, strike, protest, demonstrate" and encourages employees of any company to demand their workplaces "cut ties and divest from all genocidal partnerships, including any relationships with Israel or Microsoft."

For Microsoft executives, the document provides an email address for negotiation contact and reserves a spot for them at the negotiation table in the plaza.