Ibtihal Aboussad: Resistance & Big Tech | Sumud Podcast

🎙️This week on the Sumud Podcast, we’re joined by Ibtihal Aboussad, a Moroccan-born software engineer, educator, and No Azure for Apartheid campaign organizer. A Harvard graduate and former Microsoft employee, Ibtihal made headlines earlier this year when she publicly confronted Microsoft’s CEO for the company’s role in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, resulting in her being fired from her job. In this powerful conversation, Ibtihal shares the story behind that viral moment and the years of quiet resistance that led to it. From grassroots education initiatives in Morocco to building ethical technologies and manning suicide hotlines, her journey is a rare fusion of tech, spirituality, and social justice. She reflects on how Islam grounds her commitment to collective liberation, what it meant to grow up under cultural imperialism in North Africa, and why she believes that true resistance is never just personal; it’s organized, intentional, and deeply principled. 🔑 In this conversation, we explore: ➡ Tech complicity in genocide and organizing from inside Big Tech ➡ Growing up under neocolonialism in Morocco ➡ Faith as resistance to individualism and apathy ➡ Why she threw a kufiya on stage at Microsoft ➡ The emotional toll of working for a company enabling genocide This video is for educational purposes only. It provides political, cultural, and ethical insight into corporate complicity, worker resistance, and the Palestinian liberation struggle. 📌 Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction: Who is Ibtihal Aboussad? 05:44 – Growing Up in Morocco & Early Tech Education 11:28 – Harvard, Islam & Countering Individualism 17:30 – Working at Microsoft, Discovering Complicity & Organizing from Within 31:54 – The Protest, Kufiya Toss & Resignation 54:52 – What Comes Next: Collective Liberation & Tech That Heals 🇵🇸 Follow Ibtihal: @ibtihal.aboussad 🎙 Follow our host: @dredhasan Don’t miss it—tune in now at https://sumudpod.com 🌐Check out: https://noazureforapartheid.com/ #Palestine #SumudPod #Tech #Microsoft #PalestineUnderAttack #FreePalestine #VoicesFromGaza #EndTheOccupation #GazaUnderSiege Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices