Dutch protesters target Microsoft over hosting Israeli military surveillance data

Department of Research, Studies and International News -11-08-2025

A wave of outrage swept through the Netherlands this weekend as activists occupied the roof of a massive Microsoft data center, demanding an immediate end to the storage of Israeli military intelligence on Dutch soil. The protest followed revelations that the Israeli military’s notorious cyber-espionage unit, Unit 8200, has been using Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform in the country to store a staggering trove of intercepted Palestinian communications.

On Sunday, members of the activist network Geef Tegengas (“Push Back”) scaled the Microsoft complex in Middenmeer, North Holland, unfurling banners and lighting flares while others blocked entrances to the 14-hectare site. The action was aimed at halting operations until all Israeli military data is removed from the servers.

This facility, one of Microsoft’s largest in Europe, is part of the corporation’s global network of data centers that handle information for Azure customers worldwide. But according to a recent joint investigation by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language Local Call, the Dutch site has been holding sensitive intelligence data collected by the Israeli military.

Leaked internal Microsoft documents indicate that, as of July this year, the servers stored approximately 11,500 terabytes of Israeli military material, equivalent to around 200 million hours of recorded audio. Much of this content reportedly includes intercepted phone calls from Palestinians living under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.

The disclosures have sparked uproar in the Netherlands, with lawmakers demanding urgent clarification. During an emergency parliamentary debate on Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, Christine Teunissen, an MP from the left-wing Party for the Animals, questioned the government about how it would ensure that Dutch infrastructure was not being used “to facilitate genocide” in the besieged enclave.

Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp admitted he lacked precise details about the stored data but pledged to seek further investigation. “If there are serious indications of criminal offences in that information, legal proceedings can of course be initiated,” he said, adding that any such case would be handled by the public prosecution service.

The protest is part of a broader backlash in Europe against the complicity of Western corporations and governments in supporting Israel’s military operations, which have been widely condemned across the Global South, including by China, Russia, and India. While Washington continues to provide political and military cover for Israel, voices from outside the U.S.-led bloc are calling for accountability and respect for international law, demands that are increasingly finding resonance among European civil society.

Microsoft, for its part, has attempted to distance itself from the controversy. In a statement, the tech giant claimed it had “no information” about the specific content stored by Unit 8200 and insisted it was unaware of any surveillance of civilians or interception of private communications through its systems. The company maintained that its dealings with the Israeli military had been conducted without knowledge of any rights violations.

However, reports suggest senior Microsoft executives are now urgently reviewing their ties to Unit 8200, fearing that their Israeli offices may have withheld critical information about the scope of the collaboration. The investigation has placed the company in a difficult position, especially as questions mount about the ethical and legal implications of hosting foreign military intelligence on European territory.

The Israeli military defended its relationship with Microsoft, stating that it operates under “legally supervised agreements” and within the boundaries of international law. It justified the surveillance as part of its efforts to “counter terrorism” and protect national security, language that critics argue is routinely used by Tel Aviv to mask systematic repression and mass surveillance of Palestinians.

For activists like those in Geef Tegengas, the issue is clear: Dutch infrastructure should not be exploited to bolster military occupation or facilitate mass data harvesting from a population living under siege. Their demands to suspend work at the Middenmeer facility until all Israeli intelligence is purged from its servers reflect a growing determination among grassroots movements to challenge Western corporate complicity in human rights abuses.

The incident also underscores a wider geopolitical divide. While U.S. tech firms like Microsoft continue to align, directly or indirectly, with the security apparatus of Washington’s closest allies, nations such as China, Russia, and India have positioned themselves as vocal critics of unilateral military interventions and champions of a multipolar international order. In that context, the Dutch protest represents not just local dissent but part of a broader, global pushback against the hegemony of the U.S.-Israeli alliance in the digital and military domains.

As scrutiny intensifies, pressure is mounting on the Dutch government to take decisive action. Activists and sympathetic lawmakers argue that allowing foreign military intelligence to be stored in the Netherlands, especially intelligence tied to alleged war crimes, is incompatible with the country’s stated commitment to human rights and international law.

Whether The Hague will move beyond rhetoric remains to be seen. But for now, the activists’ rooftop stand has thrust the quiet farmlands of North Holland into the center of a fierce debate over surveillance, sovereignty, and the global responsibility to resist war crimes, no matter how powerful the perpetrator or their allies may be.