BDS calls for boycott of Xbox after Microsoft fires pro-Palestine employees

The official Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called for a boycott of Microsoft’s Xbox and all of its gaming products, accusing the company of complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation links to its prison system.

The boycott includes Microsoft Gaming, consoles from the brand, Xbox Game Pass, Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and gaming accessories, which they say generate a significant income for the company.

The urge to ramp up pressure on the brand comes after the company's actions were thrust into light when two employees launched a protest at the 50th anniversary celebration to denounce the company's work in supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military.

Microsoft later fired the two employees, after one of them, Ibtihal Aboussad walked up to a stage at the event and said: "You claim that you care about using AI for good, but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military".

"Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region," she added.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by No Azure for Apartheid (@noazureforapartheid)

BDS echoes the comments in a statement, which states "Microsoft partners with the apartheid regime of Israel and its prison system. It provides the Israeli military with Azure cloud and AI services that are central to accelerating Israel’s genocide of 2.3 million Palestinians in the illegally occupied Gaza Strip".

"By boycotting the Xbox brand, we’re pressuring Microsoft to end its complicity in Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid against Palestinians," the statement adds.

After being dismissed from Microsoft, Aboussad has been vocal on her social media platforms, reiterating calls for the boycott of the company.

In a video posted on her Instagram account, she says: "Many people have been asking how they can support, so I have two requests. Boycott all Microsoft products – from Xbox to Candy Crush, any product you use. Boycott them all. The goal behind that is to tell Microsoft we will not financially support you nor will we use your products unless you adopt more humane principles".

"I also ask that you spread this boycott call with your friends, family and colleagues. My second ask – if anyone watching this video is in a similar position as mine – meaning they work at a company with similar inhumane principles, I ask you to speak up and raise your voice, whether from the inside or from the outside," she continues.

In a follow-up video with Islamic scholar Dr Omar Suleiman, she states she was prompted to take action because of her "spiritual fear," and being appearing "complicit" before God through her work at the organisation.

"I knew that just staying at Microsoft and staying silent and keeping my prestigious comfortable job was going to lead to that outcome on the Day of Judgement," she continued.

 

 

 

 

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Xbox has long been linked to Israel, with the Israeli firm Prime-Sense developing the technology, which is used in the Kinect camera, allowing games on the console to be played through body movement rather than a joystick or controller.

A previous joint investigation between the Guardian, +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, found that Microsoft "deepened" their relationship with Israel’s defence establishment since 7 October 2023, the start of the war on Gaza.

The investigation also found that Microsoft provided the Israeli army with storage and computing services, agreeing on "at least $10m in deals to provide thousands of hours of technical support" for the military while they were bombarding Gaza.

The report says Microsoft have supplied a "suite of communications and messaging systems" for managing databases of potential airstrike targets. 

The calls for the boycott amid the ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed over 61,700 Palestinians since 2023, with the actual toll expected to be much higher, the Palestine government media office says.

The war has levelled entire neighbourhoods, plunged Gaza into a deep humanitarian crisis and displaced almost all of the population.