Woman Protests against Israel at a Campaign Event in Germany

People protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people interrupt German Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during an SPD election campaign event for the 2025 federal elections in Bielefeld, Germany, 13 January 2025. (EPA)
People protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people interrupt German Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during an SPD election campaign event for the 2025 federal elections in Bielefeld, Germany, 13 January 2025. (EPA)
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Woman Protests against Israel at a Campaign Event in Germany

People protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people interrupt German Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during an SPD election campaign event for the 2025 federal elections in Bielefeld, Germany, 13 January 2025. (EPA)
People protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people interrupt German Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during an SPD election campaign event for the 2025 federal elections in Bielefeld, Germany, 13 January 2025. (EPA)

A woman protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza has briefly disrupted an election campaign event by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, standing up and smearing her face and hood with a blood-colored substance.

Germany is a staunch ally of Israel. Scholz responded to the disruption on Monday by saying: “The answer is that it was a terrible terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli citizens over a year ago. It is right that the state of Israel can defend itself against this attack.”

He said that Germany has always been clear in its support for a two-state solution and that international law must be adhered to.

The woman was escorted out of the hall in the western city of Bielefeld, shouting “genocide,” “Free Palestine” and “Over 200 dead journalists.”

Potential obstacles to a Israel-Hamas agreement Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning scores of militant-held hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

There has been intensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

But the talks have repeatedly stalled over several key issues. They include details of the exchange, whether the ceasefire would be permanent and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The war has ground on as each side has accused the other of backtracking.



Microsoft Workers Say They’ve Been Fired after 50th Anniversary Protest over Israel Contract 

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)
A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)
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Microsoft Workers Say They’ve Been Fired after 50th Anniversary Protest over Israel Contract 

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)
A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)

Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.

Microsoft accused one of the workers in a termination letter Monday of misconduct "designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event." Microsoft says the other worker had already announced her resignation, but on Monday it ordered her to leave five days early.

The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up toward a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft's AI ambitions.

"You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military," Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. "Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region."

The protest forced Suleyman to pause his talk while it was being livestreamed from Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington. Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft's founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft said Suleyman calmly tried to de-escalate the situation. "Thank you for your protest, I hear you," he said. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and "all of Microsoft" had blood on their hands. She also threw onto the stage a keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event.

A second protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later part of the event.

Aboussad, based at Microsoft's Canadian headquarters in Toronto, was invited on Monday to a call with a human resources representative at which she was told she was being fired immediately, according to the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, which has protested the sale of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.

An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The story also contained details of an errant Israeli airstrike in 2023 that struck a vehicle carrying members of a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother.

In its termination letter, Microsoft told Aboussad she could have raised her concerns confidentially to a manager. Instead, it said she made "hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations" against Suleyman and the company and that her "conduct was so aggressive and disruptive that you had to be escorted out of the room by security."

Agrawal had already given her two weeks notice and was preparing to leave the company on April 11, but on Monday a manager emailed that Microsoft "has decided to make your resignation immediately effective today."

It was the most public but not the first protest over Microsoft's work with Israel. In February, five Microsoft employees were ejected from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella for protesting the contracts.

"We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard," said a statement from the company Friday. "Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards."

Microsoft had declined to say Friday whether it was taking further action, but Aboussad and Agrawal expected it was coming after both lost access to their work accounts shortly after the protest.

Dozens of Google workers were fired last year after internal protests over a contract it also has with the Israeli government. Employee sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California targeted a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus providing AI technology to the Israeli government.

The Google workers later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get their jobs back.