Eighteen activists were taken into custody in a dramatic incident after anti-Israel agitators and Microsoft employees staged a second encampment at the company’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters. The group vandalized property, blocked a pedestrian bridge, and erected displays honoring Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorists before police intervened.
Redmond Police spokeswoman Jill Green confirmed that “officers took 18 into custody for multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction. No injuries were reported.” Protesters had dumped paint over a Microsoft sign and stolen furniture from vendors to form barricades.
The demonstrations were organized by No Azure for Apartheid (NAA), a coalition of radical Microsoft employees demanding the company sever ties with Israel and pay reparations to Palestinians. NAA declared, “Today, we choose to revolt; we choose to rise up; we choose to disobey; and we choose to carry forward the torch of the intifada until every single inch of Palestine is liberated.”
The agitators also honored known terrorists, including Hamas operative Hassan Esliyeh, who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, and PFLP leader Ghassan Kanafani. Microsoft condemned the vandalism, saying the activists “engaged in vandalism and property damage” and “disrupted, harassed, and took tables and tents from local small businesses.”
UN Watch and other watchdogs have long warned that corporate activism is being hijacked to push extremist agendas. A Microsoft spokeswoman emphasized that while employees may voice opinions, “we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption.” However NAA has vowed, “Make no mistake, our actions will continue as long as Microsoft is invested in the economy of occupation and genocide, in any capacity!”
