The vigil was "unauthorized," according to reporting from The Associated Press, but the employees said that their event—held during lunch on Thursday—was similar to other events Microsoft had approved to raise money for charity.
"We have so many community members within Microsoft who have lost family, lost friends or loved ones," one of the workers who was fired, Abdo Mohamed, told the AP. "But Microsoft really failed to have the space for us where we can come together and share our grief and honor the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves."
"Our work is currently being used by the Israeli state to wreak unfathomable destruction on Palestinian life."
The Israeli assault on Gaza, which many experts consider to be a genocide, has claimed nearly 43,000 lives according to official figures, though the real number may be much higher.
Mohamed, who was born in Egypt, had a work visa for his job at Microsoft as a researcher and data scientist. He said he would need to find a new job within two months in order to maintain his visa and stay in the United States.
The other employee, Hossam Nasr, who grew up in Egypt, also helps to organize Harvard Alumni for Palestine.
Nasr said he had previously been investigated and punished by Microsoft for pro-Palestinian posts he had made on the company's internal social media platform.
Microsoft confirmed to the AP on Friday that it "ended the employment of some individuals in accordance with internal policy."
Both Mohamed and Nasr are members of a group called No Azure for Apartheid, which grew out of the wider No Tech for Apartheid campaign and opposes the use of Microsoft technologies such as its cloud computing program Azure to aid Israel's war on Gaza and the maintenance of its occupation in the West Bank.
Microsoft has a longstanding relationship with Israel, as No Azure for Apartheid detailed in May. While Amazon and Google won the bid to provide exclusive cloud computing to the Israeli government and military through Project Nimbus, departments continue to use Azure in the transition. In addition, Azure provides support for Israeli military company Elbit systems' new military simulation software. Microsoft also offers consulting services to the Israeli Prison Service.
"Our work is currently being used by the Israeli state to wreak unfathomable destruction on Palestinian life," No Azure for Apartheid wrote. "As producers of powerful technologies that are frequently misused to serve the interests of unethical government entities, we bear the unique responsibility of ensuring that our code is used for good."
Anti-war and Palestinian solidarity organizations and activists spoke out against the firings.
"Microsoft are facilitating a genocide, and punishing those who stand for humanity," CODEPINK wrote on social media on Saturday.
International Solidarity Movement co-founder Huwaida Arraf said: "Not only does Microsoft provide technology to enable genocide and apartheid, but it also fires employees for holding vigils to honor murdered family members."
University of Chicago professor and In These Times columnist Eman Abdelhadi linked the firings to several instances of retaliation for Palestinian solidarity activism at universities and companies.
"Harvard Library suspending faculty for a silent study-in. Microsoft firing workers for a Gaza vigil. U Chicago evicting a student for protesting. Universal canceling a TV show production because the author is anti-genocide... all within the last week," Abdelhadi pointed out on social media.
Microsoft's actions also come six months after Google fired 28 employees for staging protests against Project Nimbus.
On Sunday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its Washington state chapter called on Microsoft to reinstate the employees.
"This is yet another illustration of how employees of conscience, who are standing up for the human rights issue of our time, are being silenced in the corporate world," said CAIR-WA executive director Imraan Siddiqi in a statement.
CAIR National executive director Nihad Awad agreed: "Time after time, we see the 'except for Palestine' rule applied whenever anyone dares to defend the human rights, humanity, and dignity of the Palestinian people. In any other context, a corporation would celebrate its employees standing up for human rights and against genocide–'except for Palestine.'"
"This hypocritical double standard must end," Awad urged. "Microsoft must rehire these principled employees and apologize for its biased actions that appear to support Israel's genocide and to deny Palestinian humanity."
