WASHINGTON, DC, October 18, 2023: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Tuesday released an analysis of U.S. corporate statements released over the past two weeks showing that numerous major businesses have disregarded their own diversity, equity, and inclusion policies by ignoring the concerns of employees of Palestinian descent and releasing one-sided statements that ignore or even justify violence against Palestinian civilians.
CAIR’s analysis centers statements from high-ranking executives at Amazon, Google, Pfizer, Microsoft and others. It also documents corporate leaders who have threatened student activists for their support of Palestinian human rights.
“All reasonable people want the ongoing violence in the Middle East to end. Instead of recognizing the humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians, many corporate leaders appear to have ignored the concerns of their own employees, released on-sided statements that only acknowledge the suffering of Israeli civilians while completely ignoring or even justifying violence against Palestinian civilians,” said CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor.
“We have received numerous messages of concern from employees at businesses that have deliberately ignored the humanity of the Palestinian people. Corporations should respect the diversity of their employees, condemn the dangerous atmosphere of anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia running rampant in America, and issue new statements recognizing the humanity of all people, including the thousands of Palestinian civilians who are being killed in Gaza.”
CAIR has issued a template pledge opposing anti-Arab bias and Islamophobia for those corporations who want to honor their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion while clearly rejecting bigotry.
Saylor added: “Students jumping into politics is a good thing. Any American who values our commitment to a robust political dialog should be encouraging these voices, not childishly withhold career opportunities.”
Israeli society acknowledges their occupation is either apartheid or close to it. Israel’s former attorney general, The Israeli Law Professors’ Forum for Democracy, and a Professor of the Holocaust at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Here in the U.S., conservative columnist Thomas Friedman agrees.
This past weekend, a Palestinian Muslim child was stabbed to death in Chicago, allegedly as a result of the current Middle East fighting.
CAIR has also noted an unprecedented wave of targeting of student by supporters of Israeli apartheid. The organization provided tools to help support students as they participate in American democracy.
