Microsoft fires anti-Israel activist employees after security breach in president’s office

Two Microsoft employees were fired this week after a group of protesters stormed the office of company president Brad Smith at the Redmond headquarters.

A Microsoft spokesperson told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI that both employees were arrested during the incident, which Microsoft called a serious violation of company policy. “Two employees were terminated yesterday following serious breaches of company policies and Microsoft’s code of conduct. The first violated the Business Conduct Policy, participated in the unlawful break-in at the executive offices, and other demonstrations on campus, and was arrested by authorities on the Microsoft premises on two occasions. The second was involved in the break-in at the executive offices and was subsequently arrested."

“These incidents are inconsistent with the expectations we maintain for our employees,” the spokesperson said. “The company is continuing to investigate and is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding these matters.”

The first employee was terminated after participating in the protest and break-in. The second was fired after being arrested in connection with the events that followed.

The anti-Israel activist group No Azure for Apartheid identified the employees as Riki Fameli and Anna Hattle. Hattle, in particular, has a history of radical protest activity: she was arrested last week when demonstrators attempted to establish an anti-Israel encampment on Microsoft’s campus. She was also arrested in May after pro-Hamas and Antifa militants caused more than $1 million in damage to the University of Washington’s new engineering building, which was sponsored in part by Boeing, during a violent occupation. Despite the arrests, she has not yet been formally charged in any of those incidents.

Fameli and Hattle were among the seven activists arrested Tuesday after occupying Smith’s office.

During a press conference after the arrests, Smith told reporters the activists had gone further than a disruptive protest, alleging they had planted listening devices in his office and previously attempted to obtain building floor plans. He described the actions as an unprecedented breach of corporate security.

On Thursday, the tech giant announced that 2 more employees had been fired. A Microsoft spokesperson told Hoffman that two additional employees were terminated "due to serious violation of established company policies and our code of conduct, including participation in a recent on-site demonstration that created significant safety concerns for our employees." The spokesperson added that such conduct is entirely unacceptable and stands in direct opposition to our company values and policies." One of them identified herself at a press conference to protest the terminations as Nisreen Jaradat.

Microsoft emphasized that nearly all of those arrested were not employees, despite claims to the contrary. “Of the 20 people arrested during yesterday’s incident, only one is a current Microsoft employee, and only three are former employees previously terminated for similar conduct,” the company said of last week's protest, which resulted in vandalism. “Almost all of those arrested, including some carrying fake company ID cards, have never worked at Microsoft.”

The confrontation comes amid an escalation in tactics. Over the weekend, individuals reportedly appeared in kayaks outside the Lake Washington homes of Smith and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Microsoft has asked the FBI and local law enforcement to help track and contain such incidents.

Former employee and Egyptian national Hossam Nasr has been identified as one of the leaders of the radical group. He was fired last October after leading another protest on the Microsoft campus, which resulted in vandalism. Last year, Nasr was arrested for disrupting a University of Washington (UW) Board of Regents meeting discussing campus antisemitism. Jewish students, faculty, and board members had to be escorted out after anti-Israel activists led by Nasr seized control of the room. In May, witnesses spotted Nasr on the UW campus tipping over a dumpster and setting it on fire the night antisemitic radicals and antifa militants caused the damage to the university's engineering building. Nasr bragged to local media about his participation in local protests, including the violent antisemitic Gaza camp last year at UW.

Nasr’s social media has featured a photo of a US flag being burned at a pro-Hamas event, and he wrote that the flag represented “death, murder, destruction… genocide… and beheaded babies.” He added: “Death to the U.S. empire and its killing machine. Free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a call for the genocide of everyone living in Israel. Before moving to Seattle, Nasr co-founded Harvard Alumni for Palestine and served as co-president of Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, part of the antisemitic Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement.