"Your Job Search Is Over"... Palestinian Supporters Spread 'Death Note' in the US

Israel-Palestine... Divided America
Hate Crimes Targeting Supporters on Both Sides Also Increasing

The aftermath of the armed conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas has spread to social conflicts within the United States. A website tracking individuals who supported Palestine has emerged, and conversely, companies supporting Israel have faced opposing pressures.

According to foreign media such as The New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (WP) on the 22nd (local time), cases of voices supporting Palestine being suppressed in the U.S. have increased since Hamas's attack on Israel on the 7th.

On the 19th (local time), citizens supporting Israel marched in New York, USA, holding signs that read "Oppose Anti-Semitism." As global public opinion is divided over the armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, hate crimes targeting both sides are spreading in the United States as well.
[Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News]

Reports indicate that the website called 'anti-israel-employees' has posted over 17,000 entries in the past ten days. These posts compile pro-Palestinian messages from the business-oriented social network 'LinkedIn.' The site includes lists of employees, profile pictures, and accounts from major U.S. companies such as Amazon, Deloitte, Microsoft, Mastercard, McKinsey, as well as universities and foreign startups.

However, the NYT pointed out that the website identified expressions of sympathy for Gaza civilians, such as 'prayers for Palestine' and 'pleas for peace,' as support for terrorism rather than support for Hamas. A LinkedIn employee expressed concern, saying, "People are scraping pro-Palestinian posts and adding them to a 'terror supporter' database."

A Google employee posted a video on LinkedIn singing a song mourning Palestinian colleagues and children who lost their lives due to Israeli bombings, only to find their name listed on the anti-Israel employees website. The post received a comment stating, "Your support for terrorism is being monitored and recorded. Good luck finding a new job in the future," which was later deleted.

Because of this, some individuals named on the website have already deleted their LinkedIn posts or profiles, according to the NYT.

The NYT explained, "This website emerged amid widespread debates over expressions related to a fierce international conflict," adding that similar lists have been created to track university students who voiced support for Palestinians.

Increasing Cases of Suppression of Pro-Palestinian Voices in the U.S.

On the 18th (local time), citizens marched through the streets of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, carrying a large Palestinian flag. [Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

Suppression cases are increasing not only online but also offline, intensifying controversy. Earlier, Starbucks sued the employee union that posted pro-Palestinian messages on social media on the 18th. Starbucks filed a trademark infringement lawsuit and also demanded the union stop using the name 'Starbucks Workers Union.'

Additionally, Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American author who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 for his novel , had a scheduled talk at the 92nd Street Y cultural center (92NY) in New York at 8 p.m. on the 22nd (local time) canceled. He was to discuss his recently published memoir with Min Jin Lee, a Korean-American author famous for .

Nguyen stated that 92NY canceled the talk because he recently signed an open letter criticizing Israel. The letter was published on the 18th in the UK's renowned literary review, the London Review of Books (LRB), and was signed by over 750 authors. The letter called for an end to Israel's indiscriminate airstrikes on Gaza and barely mentioned Hamas's attack on Israel, according to the NYT.

92NY issued a statement on the 21st saying, "We have always invited people with diverse perspectives as a Jewish institution," and added, "The brutal attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, including the continued detention of hostages including the elderly and children, has devastated the Israeli community. Considering the invited author's public statements about Israel and this moment, we thought postponing the event was a responsible action."

CBS reported, "As sensitivities around the Israel-Hamas war increase, anti-Semitic remarks on social media are facing intense scrutiny, and more people are losing jobs due to online posts." In fact, Citigroup fired an employee last week for posting anti-Semitic content on social media.

Conversely, cases of CEOs issuing public statements supporting Israel facing pressure are also increasing. The WP reported that IT companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Google, which have extensive business with Israel and employ local staff, are experiencing backlash.

Some Google employees expressed disappointment that Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, only issued messages mourning Israeli victims and did not comment on Palestinian victims, the WP noted.

'Pro-Israel' U.S. Public Opinion Reaches Highest Level in Over 20 Years

Meanwhile, public support for Israel in the United States has risen to its highest level in over 20 years following the surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

On the 22nd (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that a poll conducted with Ipsos surveying 1,409 adults across the U.S. confirmed a growing trend of support for Israel.

In the poll conducted over three days starting on the 18th, 42% of respondents answered that the U.S. government should side with Israel in the Middle East conflict.

Before Hamas's surprise attack, support for siding with Israel was only in the 20% range. Meanwhile, neutral opinions stating that the U.S. should not take sides dropped sharply from the 60% range to 52%.

Additionally, support for siding with Palestine decreased to 3%. The WSJ explained that this poll result marks the highest level of support for Israel since 2002.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.