Whistleblower exposes Amazon for rampant Antisemitism on Internal Communications Channels

A recent revelation by a whistleblower within Amazon has sparked a controversy regarding the use of the company's internal communication channels and physical offices for sharing discriminatory and insensitive remarks about Israel, leading to a potentially hostile work environment for Jewish and Israeli employees. The whistleblower, a programmer at Amazon, has disclosed that certain employees have been posting anti-Israel comments on an internal Slack channel, reportedly having over 3,000 members.  Evidence of antisemitism on internal channels arises in the context of Amazon already facing criticism for its lack of response over Amazon’s own Israeli employee, Sasha Troufanov, having been one of the October 7, 2023 hostages taken by Hamas during the surprise attack over two months ago. Despite repeated appeals, Amazon’s management has failed to even acknowledge that its employee was kidnapped or that he remains a hostage.  The issue came to light following the sharing of flyers with symbols associated with Palestine in Amazon's offices across the world and on the company's internal wiki on November 29, 2023. The flyers displayed a watermelon symbol, shaped like the Jewish state of Israel, which was interpreted as a call to destroy the existing state of Israel. The flyers were accompanied by calls on the Amazon slack channel of "from the river to the sea" and attempts to raise money for Islamic Relief Canada, an affiliate of Islamic Relief Worldwide, which was banned by Israel a decade ago for alleged ties to Hamas.   [caption id="attachment_5230" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Palestinian Flyers at Amazon Offices[/caption] Among the contentious posts on Slack, one by Amazon employee, Laith Abad, stated, “Idk how Palestine gets their freedom, but simply asking nicely isn’t the solution.” Another, from Zaid Akel, expressed explicit support for Hamas, stating, “I stand with any and every revolution against their occupiers, so I stand with Hamas.” Further exacerbating the situation was a post that appeared to mock the Israeli hostages. In this instance, an Amazon employee shared a picture from social media accompanied by comments that sarcastically implied the hostages were well-treated. This post cynically suggested, “Jokes, smiles, handshakes, and even hugs! Have we ever witnessed prisoners treat their captors like this? This is why Israel won’t allow these hostages to give interviews. Compare this to how Palestinian hostages are treated by Israel.” Adding to the insensitivity, Amazon employee Ayat Abukhadra commented with evident sarcasm, “torture is really showing…” — a remark that was interpreted as making light of the serious and traumatic experience of the hostages. Additionally, a post by Amazon employee Zaid Malhis alleged “organ theft” by Israeli forces from dead Palestinians, further inflaming the situation. In response to the backlash from some Amazon employees against these posts, another employee, Carl Hage, admitted to censoring the comments of five Israeli Amazon employees. Hage justified his actions by stating that the Slack channel was intended to support Arab employees at Amazon and to raise awareness among the company's allies. Another post by Laith Abad quoted Jake Shields alleging that "The IDF brutally beat and gang raped a 13 year old girl for 5 years. They threatened to do the same to her 9 year old sister if she told anyone." Another internal post by employee Ahmed Shihab on the Amazon internal Slack Channel appeared to claim that Israel put explosives in a boy's stomach.

Further, a statement released by "Amazon Labor Union Democratic Reform Caucus" made multiple inflammatory accusations against Israel, including saying Israel is committing "ongoing genocide" in a "75-year-long militarist occupation committed by the settler colony Israel against the indigenous Palestinian people." It further calls Israel an "imperialist and colonialist project of the West, is inherently violent and systematically oppressive and the intent and effect of genocide is clear." The statement calls for support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement ("BDS") against Israel, including calling for halting a contract between Amazon and the Israeli government.

These incidents have raised serious questions about the use of internal company platforms for political discussions and the spreading of potentially harmful and discriminatory content. It also highlights the challenges companies face in moderating content on their internal networks while respecting freedom of expression.

Amazon has been widely criticized even beyond the Jewish press for failing to even acknowledge its employee who was kidnapped and still held hostage by Hamas. Amazon has yet to officially respond.