Technology

• The Associated Press;
• The Seattle Times;
• The Guardian.

August 26, 2025

MICROSOFT WORKERS HOLD A SIT-IN INSIDE EXECUTIVES’ BUILDING, RE-ESTABLISH THE LIBERATED ZONE IN THE LATEST ESCALATION AGAINST MICROSOFT

REDMOND, WASHINGTON – Moments ago, current and former Microsoft workers have re-established the Liberated Zone by holding a sit-in inside Microsoft executives’ Building 34, renaming it to “Mai Ubeid Building” in honor of Mai Ubeid, a Palestinian software engineer who was killed in Gaza by an Israeli air strike. The latest sit-in is part of a series of ongoing protests and disruptions happening today to protest Microsoft’s active role in the genocide of Palestinians.

Right before the sit-in, the group deployed noisemakers – attached to balloons – directly into the atrium of Building 34. During the sit-in, the workers and former workers occupied the office of Brad Smith, the current Microsoft president, delivering notices that read: “The People’s Court Summons Bradford Lee Smith on Charges of Crimes Against Humanity.” In addition, workers unfurled and hung two banners in the space: one that declares a renaming of Building 34 to “Mai Ubeid Building,” and another that repeats the demands of the liberated zone to Microsoft:

1. Cut ties with Israel
2. Call for an End to the Genocide and Forced Starvation
3. Pay Reparations to the Palestinians
4. End the Discrimination Against Workers

The workers and former workers chanted: “BRAD SMITH YOU CAN’T HIDE, YOU’RE SUPPORTING GENOCIDE! BRAD SMITH YOU’RE A LIAR! YOU SET PALESTINE ON FIRE! FREE PALESTINE.”

While the sit-in is taking place inside Brad Smith’s office in Building 34 – which is now on lockdown – current and former Microsoft workers and community members are holding an outside rally featuring a group on bikes that deployed artwork across various Microsoft signs on campus. Rally participants distributed copies of the Liberated Zone declaration: “We will not be cogs in the Israeli genocidal machine: a call for a Worker Intifada.” During the rally program, workers revealed an 18-foot scroll stating the No Azure for Apartheid demands with signatories of over 2,000 workers who signed the petition during the past 15 months since the petition launch.

No Azure for Apartheid organizers Nisreen Jaradat and Ibtihal Aboussad gave speeches at the rally. During her speech, Aboussad said: “You continue to try to bury your head in the sand, so we are here today outside your blood-soaked thrones, to continue pulling your baby-killer necks out of your sand holes and continue to force you to confront your complicity, until you stop powering the murdering our people!”

Source: Drop Site on X/Twitter.