File - Paddy Cosgrave, CEO and founder of Web Summit, speaks at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon on Nov. 1, 2021. The fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has spilled into workplaces everywhere, as top leaders of prominent companies weigh in with their views and workers complain of their own voices not being heard. Backlash has been swift, including to a tweet from Cosgrave suggesting that Israel was committing war crimes.
Faced with a growing boycott to next month’s Web Summit, a prominent European gathering of thousands of tech leaders, Cosgrave released a long message denouncing the Hamas attacks and apologizing for the timing of his tweet while defending his overall views on the conflict. But companies continued withdrawing from the conference, including German tech conglomerate Siemens and U.S. chipmaker Intel.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic civil rights group, denounced the backlash against the students and statements from U.S. corporate leaders that “lack any meaningful display of sympathy toward Palestinian civilians.” Abuhasna, a Palestinian American who has worked for a real estate firm and other companies but recently took a break to stay home with her two young children, said she fears her posts will make it difficult to find a new position. But she said her parents raised her to be proud and vocal about the Palestinian cause.
Starbucks Workers United tweeted a longer message on Friday denouncing Israel’s “occupation” and “threats of genocide Palestinians face” while also condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia.