REDMOND, Washington— Two former Microsoft workers said they were unfairly dismissed from their jobs because they organized a vigil for Palestinians who have been killed and injured by Israeli military forces.

Abdo Mohamed and Hossam Nasr denounced the firings at a press conference on Friday organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They were joined by other technology sector workers who denounce similar discrimination by companies like Apple and Google.

“There has been a systematic campaign of intimidation and silencing of Arab and Palestinian voices,” Nasr said. “To Microsoft leaders and executives, if you think that firing us will in any way disrupt our movement or slow our campaign, you couldn’t be more wrong.”

Nasr and Mohamed helped organize a vigil last week to mourn the innocent victims of Israel’s war against Hamas. They said other employees hold events for other causes on the Redmond campus and they wanted to do the same. The vigil and fundraiser took place at lunchtime at the company’s headquarters in Redmond.

A Microsoft spokesperson said they violated company policies, for which they were fired.

“We just didn’t get a clear answer about what policy we were violating even though we researched and worked to understand Microsoft’s policies,” Mohamed said.

Microsoft said they told workers to hold their event on public property and that speakers were not allowed because it would be disruptive to co-workers. The company spokesperson said these guidelines were ignored.

“At no point did anyone from Microsoft security, either through prior communications or in person during the event, tell us that sound amplification would be an issue,” Nasr said.

Both workers are part of a campaign called No Azure for Apartheid, which is trying to get Microsoft to end its contracts with the Israeli military. Azure is a cloud computing system that Israel uses to carry out attacks against Hamas in Gaza. Palestinian civilians have also been killed, including thousands of children.

“We demand that Microsoft stop providing the Israeli military with the technology to commit ongoing genocide against the Palestinians,” said a current Microsoft employee who spoke at the press conference but did not want to be identified.

No Azure for Apartheid is circulating a public petition to end sales of Azure cloud and AI services to the Israeli military. The petition also calls for more protections for employees against discrimination.

Earlier this year, Google fired more than 50 workers who protested technology the company supplies to the Israeli government amid the Gaza war.

Both Mohamed and Nasr say they remain committed to challenging the tech industry and what they see as discriminatory bias against Arabs and complicity in the deaths of Palestinians.

“Every second is the right time to speak. Every place is the right place to speak and every way is the right way to speak,” Mohamed said.

Microsoft took issue with workers’ accusations that it discriminates against Palestinians and ignores their concerns, but cracks down on any anti-Semitic behavior. A spokesperson wrote: “In reference to the allegations, the company investigates concerns without regard to viewpoint and imposes discipline based on the facts of each matter. It would be inaccurate to frame this story any other way. The company has taken disciplinary action regarding statements on multiple sides of these issues.