Amazon invited controversial rapper and pro-Palestinian supporter Macklemore to speak at an internal meeting, even though one of its employees remains held hostage in Gaza. He is said to have exercised his veto power over lectures given by speakers.
Samantha Ettas, a Harvard-educated self-help author who has become active on behalf of Jewish causes since the October 7 Hamas massacre, posted a video on Instagram on Monday that read: accused of wrongdoing. “The big, huge Jewish problem.”
Etas accused the e-commerce giant of canceling a Zoom appearance to an unofficial Jewish employee “affinity” group because her speech was deemed “too controversial” by human resources.
In an Instagram video of hers that has since gone viral online, Etas said the e-commerce giant invited Macklemore to host an officially sanctioned seminar for the company's affinity group, which specializes in recovering drug addicts. I was furious that I had silenced her.
The “Thrift Shop” singer, who has been outspoken about his alcohol and drug addiction, has been harshly critical of Israel since troops moved into Gaza to root out the terror group that killed 1,400 people in cross-border raids last year. I've been doing it.
Hamas also took about 240 people hostage, including Amazon employee Alexander “Sasha” Trupanov from the Tel Aviv Institute. It is unclear whether Mr. Trupanov is among the approximately 100 hostages still believed to be alive.
Last month, Macklemore, 41, held a benefit concert titled “Palestine Lives Forever,” where he shouted “Fuck America” and denounced Israel's “genocide” against Palestinians.
His concert came just weeks after a seminar for Amazon employees. The Zoom session was pre-recorded and vetted by human resources officials to avoid straying into geopolitical issues, and was approved early last month to allow streaming to internal staff.
“Recovery@Affinity Group organized a conversation with Macklemore specifically about his personal journey, recovery, and reducing workplace stigma against people recovering from substance abuse,” the HR message reads. are.
“The team ensured that the conversations were in line with the themes of the conversations during National Recovery Month,” a human resources representative said.
“As we review the event, we have decided to move to pre-recorded conversations and will review all content before sharing it with our employees,” Human Resources told Jewish employees.
Ettas said Amazon was guilty of “hypocrisy” in platforming “a known racist and anti-Semite” while canceling a lecture.
“Despite the pleas of the Jews, [that] This is anti-Semitism and they cannot be allowed to speak out…He is allowed to speak out,” Etus said.
“I mean, Macklemore isn't controversial, but I am,” she said.
An Amazon spokesperson denied there was a double standard.
“Many of these claims lack important context, and any suggestion that we condone hostile conduct in the workplace is inaccurate and misleading,” a representative told the Post.
“We recognize that this is a difficult time for many people and remain focused on supporting all of our employees.”
Etas said Amazon's Jewish employees are denied the right to form their own employee resource groups, despite the existence of employee resource groups and “affinity” groups. 13 employee-run organizations like this We represent Asians, Latinos, veterans, LGBTQ, women, and Indigenous workers.
“A few months ago, I was invited to speak on Amazon by their Jewish organization, which Amazon refuses to officially recognize on the grounds that they are a religion. It's not a Jewish organization. [and] Not ethnicity,” Etas said in an Instagram video that had garnered more than 10,200 likes as of Tuesday.
Etas told the Post on Tuesday that Jewish employees filed formal complaints with human resources. She said Jewish staff also submitted complaints through the company's ethics portal, but their complaints were dismissed.
Amazon's human resources department told Jewish employees who protested his speech that they “thank you for bringing these concerns to our attention.” The Post obtained a text message from the human resources department.
The talk has since been removed from the company's internal video portal.
Amazon management had previously come under fire from rank-and-file Jewish employees who were outraged by the company's silence on Mr. Trupanov.
Amazon has so far not taken a public position on Trupanov's detention, saying it was acting on the advice of defense and security experts. But Amazon's Jewish employees are calling on the company to speak out on Trupanov's behalf.
The company also took issue with an internal video featuring Palestinian executive Ruba Borno, in which she was seen wearing a necklace with a pendant that featured a map of Israel and a Palestinian flag superimposed on top of it. It also faced a heated battle over its evocation of the phrase “to the sea.” ”
On Monday, Amazon announced it had removed the video.
