Protesters breach Microsoft president’s office, decrying ties to Israel

REDMOND, Wasington — Activists protesting Microsoft’s work for the Israeli government breached one of the tech giant’s buildings at its headquarters Tuesday afternoon as part of ongoing demonstrations.

The security breach was first publicized at 1 p.m. by No Azure for Apartheid, a group of Microsoft workers and others opposed to the use of the company’s technology by the Israeli state and military.

The group said protesters sat and chanted in Microsoft President Brad Smith’s office in Building 34, where they also hung banners. According to No Azure for Apartheid, one sign dubbed the building as “Mai Ubeid Building” — its namesake being the late Mai Ubeid, a software engineer in Gaza who was killed in 2023 by an Israeli airstrike — and another pressed Microsoft to “cut ties with Israel,”