CIVICUS speaks with Nathan Timmer, activist and press officer at Geef Tegengas (Push Back), a Dutch direct-action group that focuses on corporate accountability and human rights violations.

Big tech companies are facing mounting pressure over their relationships with Israeli military and intelligence agencies amid the ongoing assault on Gaza. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other major corporations have been targeted by activists, employees and human rights organisations demanding they cancel Israeli government contracts. The campaigns have intensified since October 2023, with civil society pointing to the ways cloud computing and AI services enable surveillance and military operations against Palestinians. In the Netherlands, as in other countries hosting tech infrastructure, activists have begun focusing on data centres and facilities that may be connected to these controversial partnerships.

What did you discover about Microsoft?

Our investigation revealed that the Microsoft Azure data centre in Middenmeer is directly facilitating Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. The facility stores data for Unit 8200, Israel’s military intelligence branch, which uses Microsoft’s cloud services to conduct comprehensive surveillance of Palestinians, intercepting phone calls, monitoring messages and tracking virtually every aspect of their daily lives. These 11,500 terabytes of personal data are then weaponised for blackmail, detention and, when combined with AI systems, target selection for military strikes.

Microsoft’s role goes far beyond passive service provision. Our research documents that the company’s leadership actively collaborates with Israeli military intelligence, customising systems to meet Unit 8200’s operational requirements. Microsoft is playing a central role in actively enabling the oppression of Palestinians and the war in Gaza. It isn’t just a tech company – it’s part of the machinery of occupation and violence.

What impact do you want to achieve?

Most Dutch people oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza and support sanctions, but are unaware there’s a Microsoft data centre in Middenmeer that’s directly enabling the genocide. This is unacceptable: we shouldn’t allow it to happen in our backyard. That’s why we have called on all Microsoft employees to protest until Microsoft deletes all of Israel’s intelligence data from their servers. That is an achievable first step.

We understand we can’t take down Microsoft on our own, because we’re a small group. But we are part of a larger movement. There are unions organising inside Microsoft, protests in other countries, boycott campaigns and education initiatives. Together, all these approaches put pressure on Microsoft from different angles. Our specific role is to add pressure from here in the Netherlands, and to act as the radical flank: to take disruptive action to make it impossible for Microsoft to continue operating as usual.

Are you concerned about the risks of taking direct action?

Everything we’ve done so far falls within Dutch protest rights, so the risks haven’t been significant. But we’re committed to using every tool of resistance at our disposal to challenge what we see as genocide, even if it means facing legal consequences for our actions. We believe that when institutions fail to act on clear human rights violations, civil society has both the right and the responsibility to step in.

The reason for this level of commitment is simple: we’re living through multiple simultaneous crises, including the genocide in Gaza, the climate crisis, rising fascism and ecological collapse. If you look at the climate crisis, it seems the world is at a tipping point. We may only have a decade to turn things around, and we are ready to use every tool available to make things right.

Our next steps involve maintaining pressure through continued direct action, building broader public awareness about Microsoft’s complicity and working with international partners to coordinate efforts across multiple countries where Microsoft operates similar facilities.