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It is hard to see the point of employees occupying their own company’s headquarters to protest contracts with Israel. Microsoft is not a government and it does

by nelox 1y ago

It is hard to see the point of employees occupying their own company’s headquarters to protest contracts with Israel. Microsoft is not a government and it does not set foreign policy. It is a technology firm with clients that include many countries, including allies of the United States. Israel is one of those allies. Refusing to sell software or cloud services to Israel would not bring peace, it would simply undermine Microsoft’s ability to serve a lawful customer in line with international trade rules. The workers demanding this kind of boycott ignore that Israel is a democratic state facing real security threats. They also ignore that their salaries and benefits come from contracts just like the ones they want cancelled. If every group of employees claimed veto power over which governments or companies their employer can serve, no global business could function. There is also a basic issue of consistency. No one is occupying Microsoft offices over contracts with China, Saudi Arabia, or other states with serious human rights problems. Singling out Israel reveals that this is not a principled stand on universal rights, but a political campaign against one country. Employees are free to hold those views privately, but staging a disruptive occupation of their workplace crosses a line. It undermines trust, damages productivity, and forces colleagues into political disputes they did not sign up for. If workers want to change foreign policy, the proper place is the ballot box, not the office lobby.

bigyabai 1y ago
> it would simply undermine Microsoft’s ability to serve a lawful customer in line with international trade rules. That's already happened so I don't quite see what Microsoft stands to lose: https://www.law.com/international-edition/2025/06/01/trump-sanctions-on-icc-court-highlight-europes-vulnerability-to-us-tech-dominance/?slreturn=20250819180946 https://www.law.com/international-edition/2025/06/01/trump-s...
belter 1y ago
- The ballot box does not govern corporate deployments and the workplace is where employees can influence company policy when internal channels fail. - “You’re singling out Israel” is a whataboutism. Many tech workers have protested deals with ICE in the U.S., censored search in China, and weapons programs. - The International Court of Justice has ordered provisional measures over a plausible risks of genocide and told Israel to halt operations placing duties on business partners "BBC witnesses Israeli settlers' attack on Palestinian farm in West Bank" - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewy88jle0eo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewy88jle0eo
- nelox 1y ago
  Look, employees absolutely have the right to raise concerns, but occupying the office isn’t really about discussion, it’s about forcing the company’s hand. Microsoft already has ways for staff to voice their views. If every group with a political objection shut down operations, no global business could run. On the “singling out Israel” point, that’s not whataboutism, it’s a real double standard. Yes, there have been protests over ICE or China, but those were smaller and shorter-lived. The fact that Israel alone sparks this kind of sustained disruption says something about selective outrage. That’s worth calling out. And about the ICJ, it hasn’t ruled that genocide is happening. It’s issued provisional measures, which it does pretty routinely before a case is decided. That’s very different from a verdict, and it doesn’t legally bind companies to cut ties. Suggesting otherwise is misleading. Finally, pointing to individual settler violence doesn’t change the basic issue. Israel prosecutes those cases, and they don’t justify employees trying to hijack corporate policy. If people want to change foreign policy, the place to do that is through politics and public advocacy, not by staging sit-ins at work.
  - newspaper1 1y ago
    Israel has killed an unprecedented number of children and it may have used Microsoft’s technology to do it. The protests are warranted.
  - belter 1y ago
    > Finally, pointing to individual settler violence doesn’t change the basic issue. Israel prosecutes those cases Stealing land is the current government policy: "With Moves on West Bank and Gaza City, Israel Defies Global Outcry" - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-city.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/world/middleeast/israel-h...
newspaper1 1y ago
Israel is committing war crimes. Maybe these employees don’t want to be complicit. It’s totally reasonable and moral to demand US companies divest from Israel. It’s also good for business in the long term because working with Israel is brand death.

by nelox 1y ago

bigyabai 1y ago

> it would simply undermine Microsoft’s ability to serve a lawful customer in line with international trade rules. That's already happened so I don't quite see what Microsoft stands to lose: https://www.law.com/international-edition/2025/06/01/trump-sanctions-on-icc-court-highlight-europes-vulnerability-to-us-tech-dominance/?slreturn=20250819180946 https://www.law.com/international-edition/2025/06/01/trump-s...

belter 1y ago

- The ballot box does not govern corporate deployments and the workplace is where employees can influence company policy when internal channels fail. - “You’re singling out Israel” is a whataboutism. Many tech workers have protested deals with ICE in the U.S., censored search in China, and weapons programs. - The International Court of Justice has ordered provisional measures over a plausible risks of genocide and told Israel to halt operations placing duties on business partners "BBC witnesses Israeli settlers' attack on Palestinian farm in West Bank" - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewy88jle0eo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewy88jle0eo

nelox 1y ago
Look, employees absolutely have the right to raise concerns, but occupying the office isn’t really about discussion, it’s about forcing the company’s hand. Microsoft already has ways for staff to voice their views. If every group with a political objection shut down operations, no global business could run. On the “singling out Israel” point, that’s not whataboutism, it’s a real double standard. Yes, there have been protests over ICE or China, but those were smaller and shorter-lived. The fact that Israel alone sparks this kind of sustained disruption says something about selective outrage. That’s worth calling out. And about the ICJ, it hasn’t ruled that genocide is happening. It’s issued provisional measures, which it does pretty routinely before a case is decided. That’s very different from a verdict, and it doesn’t legally bind companies to cut ties. Suggesting otherwise is misleading. Finally, pointing to individual settler violence doesn’t change the basic issue. Israel prosecutes those cases, and they don’t justify employees trying to hijack corporate policy. If people want to change foreign policy, the place to do that is through politics and public advocacy, not by staging sit-ins at work.
- newspaper1 1y ago
  Israel has killed an unprecedented number of children and it may have used Microsoft’s technology to do it. The protests are warranted.
- belter 1y ago
  > Finally, pointing to individual settler violence doesn’t change the basic issue. Israel prosecutes those cases Stealing land is the current government policy: "With Moves on West Bank and Gaza City, Israel Defies Global Outcry" - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-city.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/world/middleeast/israel-h...

newspaper1 1y ago

Israel is committing war crimes. Maybe these employees don’t want to be complicit. It’s totally reasonable and moral to demand US companies divest from Israel. It’s also good for business in the long term because working with Israel is brand death.