On the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Bank of America announced a planned attack that angered Jewish employees and prompted complaints against the bank's CEO, Brian Moynihan. The Post reported that they are working hard to contain the “Moment of Silence.” I learned.
Last week, a so-called corporate resource or affinity group called the Arab Executive Advisory Council called on its members to participate in a virtual meeting at work “to remember the tragic loss of life on October 1st. He called on everyone to offer a moment of silence for each other. Since then,” according to an internal memo obtained by the Post.
Jewish employees were immediately angered by the timing of the memo, which was sent at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, just before the start of the Jewish holy day of Rosh Hashana.
Their proximal group, the Jewish Executive Advisory Committee, planned its own Oct. 7 rally a year ago to “remember the tragic loss of life,” according to another memo obtained by the newspaper. It is said that he did.
In fact, because observant Jews refrain from work during the holidays, including reading e-mail, many Jewish employees are unaware of competing commemorations until later in the week. There wasn't.
Similarly, some took offense to the phrase “since” criticizing Israel's military response to the massacre.
Representatives for both groups declined to comment Monday.
Over the weekend, sources said, Jewish officials at BofA expressed the belief that a group sanctioned by the bank was attempting to compete with the commemoration commemorating one of the worst massacres of Jews since the Holocaust. He said he angrily warned senior executives, including his direct staff.
“Why would they allow something to be lost like this on this day?” one BofA employee fumed.
BofA executives worked from Sunday night into Monday morning to quell the controversy, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
One plan being considered is to persuade Arab organizations to join in a moment of silence with Jewish employee organizations.
A BofA spokesperson told the Post that “a number of events are being organized by the bank's employee network to commemorate the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.”
He did not deny the controversy roiling the bank and declined to comment further.
Ethnic affinities or resource groups in major corporations have increased in recent years as companies increasingly adopt so-called diversity equity and inclusion policies. But they are controversial, with critics saying they can create conflict and damage employee morale.
In recent months, Bank of America has become the unlikely epicenter of a domestic culture war involving tensions in the Middle East, and Mr. Moynihan has played a leading role in the fight.
Earlier this year, Mr. Moynihan applied for the chairmanship of Brown Corporation. The Brown Corporation, the Ivy League university's governing body, will vote on whether to divest the school's $6 billion endowment from companies doing business in Israel.
The vote, scheduled for October 16 and 17, was part of an agreement between the school administration and extremist students protesting Israel's military response to the October 7 massacre.
Students agreed to remove encampments on campus in exchange for a vote to disperse. The move was controversial and led to one member of the Brown Corporation resigning. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Joseph Edelman wrote, “There is no doubt that a divestment vote would even be considered, let alone implemented, especially in the midst of the worst assault on Jews since the Holocaust.'' I think this is morally reprehensible.” ”
A person close to BofA said the bank received a number of complaints from major customers after the paper first reported on Mr. Moynihan's involvement in the sale vote. Some have told BofA executives that Israel has the right to defend itself and is the region's only true democracy, depriving countries like China that oppress ethnic minorities. It also pointed out that there is no similar vote for
BofA officials warned staff to ignore any complaints that characterized Mr. Moynihan's work for Mr. Brown as anything other than bank-related.
