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The Guardian
25-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump is fighting to kill off DEI – and the corporate cowardice over Gaza shows he's winning
I have been working in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for more than six years. This year, more than ever, I have started to question what the purpose of it really is. Though I've been celebrating companies that took a stand against Donald Trump's anti-DEI executive orders, under the radar I have noticed an insidious censorship rearing its head. Since 2023 we have been witness to one of the worst atrocities of our lifetimes. Livestreamed to our phones, we have seen the slaughter of at least 58,000 Palestinians, more than 17,000 of them children, and many of them in hospitals, schools, refugee camps and food queues. We have seen the denial of water, electricity and medical supplies, the obliteration of communities, mass manmade starvation, and continued calls by Israeli ministers for the permanent expulsion or eradication of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's plans for a so-called humanitarian city to be built on the ruins of Rafah has been described by the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert as a 'concentration camp'. Yet, although more than 200 companies released statements after the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 – wholeheartedly condemning it and donating money to relief funds – since then, there has been a relative silence in the face of the ongoing destruction in Gaza. One senior manager I spoke to said he had received an email telling him to remind staff they weren't allowed to wear 'political' badges during the Gaza conflict. Another company leader firmly stated, 'We're an apolitical company. Our staff need to remember that.' Last year, 50 employees were fired by Google after protesting against its and Amazon's $1.2bn (£900m) Project Nimbus cloud infrastructure contract with the Israeli government. And just last weekend we saw an official at the Royal Opera House attempt to snatch the Palestinian flag from a cast member who unfurled it on stage after a performance. All these organisations have DEI agendas. They say they are committed to inclusion and equal opportunity, and to enhancing business growth through diversity. Yet it seems this commitment is conditional on people's silence. You can belong, as long as you don't make us uncomfortable. We value your identity, as long as it's not political. Yet the companies themselves are not devoid of politics. A recent report by the UN special rapporteur for Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, backed by a number of high-profile economists, exposes the vast number of businesses who have been enabling or profiting from the Israeli military operation in Gaza. 'The report shows why the genocide carried out by Israel continues … because it is lucrative for many,' it says, highlighting not just arms manufacturers but also the complicity of big tech, household brands and even educational institutions. and Airbnb have been listing properties in illegal Israeli settlements, enabling profit from stolen land. And, in the most stark cases of corporate hypocrisy, companies such as BAE Systems, which is directly tied to the Israeli military machine and dehumanisation of Palestinians, proudly brand themselves as champions of dignity and respect. For the first time, I have found myself questioning not just how we do DEI work, but whether it means anything at all. If DEI is about rewiring unjust systems, how can companies silence staff who speak out or, worse, actively profit from a brutal war machine, and still claim to be inclusive? What is the role of DEI, if not to embed values and basic humanity within the company? What is even more frustrating is that we have a direct blueprint of how business leaders can approach this. Since the invasion of Ukraine, more than 1,000 companies have voluntarily curtailed operations in Russia as a recognition that they don't stand for war crimes, the murder of civilians or the ensuing humanitarian crisis. They hung Ukrainian flags on their buildings, donated tens of millions to humanitarian organisations, offered housing and created fast-track hiring schemes for Ukrainian refugees. The Royal Opera House itself published a statement in support of Ukraine, lit up its building in the Ukrainian flag colours, and for a period of time played the Ukrainian national anthem before every performance. For many staff, this contrast makes the corporate silence on Gaza feel even more pointed. It's not 'apolitical', it's a choice. And it is a failure of DEI, which at its core is about challenging systems that breed inequality. It is rooted in values of fairness, dignity and respect for all. This isn't simply about respecting racial or religious difference on an interpersonal level, it's about who you invest in (or divest from), what you choose to speak out on, how you balance profit with purpose. To stay silent in the face of mass violence sends a clear message: some lives don't matter. What gives me hope is the people-powered movements within companies. Staff are holding their leaders to account. Be that employees at the Boston Consulting Group who shared a letter to the company's top management demanding an end to its involvement in the development of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, staff at the Berlin-based retail company Zalando protesting against the dismissal of an Arab employee who criticised its support of Israel, or the more than 100 BBC staff who spoke out against censorship in its reporting of Israel/Palestine. These ordinary workers are taking up the mantle where DEI is failing. We need to move away from this current sanitised, apolitical version of DEI towards one with meaning. Core values of dignity, humanity and fairness need to be integral to business decisions, not just corporate buzzwords. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. And that's not a DEI I want to be part of. Jinan Younis is the founder of diversity, equity and inclusion agency WeCalibrate and former assistant politics editor at gal-dem magazine
The Guardian
25-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump is fighting to kill off DEI – and the corporate cowardice over Gaza shows he's winning
I have been working in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for more than six years. This year, more than ever, I have started to question what the purpose of it really is. Though I've been celebrating companies that took a stand against Donald Trump's anti-DEI executive orders, under the radar I have noticed an insidious censorship rearing its head. Since 2023 we have been witness to one of the worst atrocities of our lifetimes. Livestreamed to our phones, we have seen the slaughter of at least 58,000 Palestinians, more than 17,000 of them children, and many of them in hospitals, schools, refugee camps and food queues. We have seen the denial of water, electricity and medical supplies, the obliteration of communities, mass manmade starvation, and continued calls by Israeli ministers for the permanent expulsion or eradication of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's plans for a so-called humanitarian city to be built on the ruins of Rafah has been described by the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert as a 'concentration camp'. Yet, although more than 200 companies released statements after the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 – wholeheartedly condemning it and donating money to relief funds – since then, there has been a relative silence in the face of the ongoing destruction in Gaza. One senior manager I spoke to said he had received an email telling him to remind staff they weren't allowed to wear 'political' badges during the Gaza conflict. Another company leader firmly stated, 'We're an apolitical company. Our staff need to remember that.' Last year, 50 employees were fired by Google after protesting against its and Amazon's $1.2bn (£900m) Project Nimbus cloud infrastructure contract with the Israeli government. And just last weekend we saw an official at the Royal Opera House attempt to snatch the Palestinian flag from a cast member who unfurled it on stage after a performance. All these organisations have DEI agendas. They say they are committed to inclusion and equal opportunity, and to enhancing business growth through diversity. Yet it seems this commitment is conditional on people's silence. You can belong, as long as you don't make us uncomfortable. We value your identity, as long as it's not political. Yet the companies themselves are not devoid of politics. A recent report by the UN special rapporteur for Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, backed by a number of high-profile economists, exposes the vast number of businesses who have been enabling or profiting from the Israeli military operation in Gaza. 'The report shows why the genocide carried out by Israel continues … because it is lucrative for many,' it says, highlighting not just arms manufacturers but also the complicity of big tech, household brands and even educational institutions. and Airbnb have been listing properties in illegal Israeli settlements, enabling profit from stolen land. And, in the most stark cases of corporate hypocrisy, companies such as BAE Systems, which is directly tied to the Israeli military machine and dehumanisation of Palestinians, proudly brand themselves as champions of dignity and respect. For the first time, I have found myself questioning not just how we do DEI work, but whether it means anything at all. If DEI is about rewiring unjust systems, how can companies silence staff who speak out or, worse, actively profit from a brutal war machine, and still claim to be inclusive? What is the role of DEI, if not to embed values and basic humanity within the company? What is even more frustrating is that we have a direct blueprint of how business leaders can approach this. Since the invasion of Ukraine, more than 1,000 companies have voluntarily curtailed operations in Russia as a recognition that they don't stand for war crimes, the murder of civilians or the ensuing humanitarian crisis. They hung Ukrainian flags on their buildings, donated tens of millions to humanitarian organisations, offered housing and created fast-track hiring schemes for Ukrainian refugees. The Royal Opera House itself published a statement in support of Ukraine, lit up its building in the Ukrainian flag colours, and for a period of time played the Ukrainian national anthem before every performance. For many staff, this contrast makes the corporate silence on Gaza feel even more pointed. It's not 'apolitical', it's a choice. And it is a failure of DEI, which at its core is about challenging systems that breed inequality. It is rooted in values of fairness, dignity and respect for all. This isn't simply about respecting racial or religious difference on an interpersonal level, it's about who you invest in (or divest from), what you choose to speak out on, how you balance profit with purpose. To stay silent in the face of mass violence sends a clear message: some lives don't matter. What gives me hope is the people-powered movements within companies. Staff are holding their leaders to account. Be that employees at the Boston Consulting Group who shared a letter to the company's top management demanding an end to its involvement in the development of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, staff at the Berlin-based retail company Zalando protesting against the dismissal of an Arab employee who criticised its support of Israel, or the more than 100 BBC staff who spoke out against censorship in its reporting of Israel/Palestine. These ordinary workers are taking up the mantle where DEI is failing. We need to move away from this current sanitised, apolitical version of DEI towards one with meaning. Core values of dignity, humanity and fairness need to be integral to business decisions, not just corporate buzzwords. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. And that's not a DEI I want to be part of. Jinan Younis is the founder of diversity, equity and inclusion agency WeCalibrate and former assistant politics editor at gal-dem magazine
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Transparently ...: Google co-founder Sergey Brin slams UN report on technology companies and Gaza
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has slammed a recent United Nations (UN) report on technology companies and Gaza. In a message posted on an internal Google forum, Brin reportedly told employees that the UN report is 'Transparently Antisemitic'. This statement comes after a UN report alleged that several major global corporations, including Big Tech companies, have profited from Israel's actions in Gaza. Brin's comments, seen in internal messages from Google's artificial intelligence (AI) arm DeepMind and shared with The Washington Post, directly addressed the UN report. He wrote, 'With all due respect, throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides.' 'I would also be careful citing transparently antisemitic organisations like the UN in relation to these issues,' Brin added. The UN report last month claimed that corporations continued doing business with the Israeli government and military, thus profiting from the situation. Also, in a statement to the Washington Post, Brin said that his comments were about 'an internal discussion that was citing a plainly biased and misleading report.' What the UN report said about Big Tech's involvement in Gaza by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo 'The UN report claims that by continuing business ties with Israel, tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are complicit in what it describes as a 'joint criminal enterprise.' The report argues that their operations 'ultimately contribute to a whole economy that drives, supplies and enables this genocide.' It highlights Google's role in Project Nimbus—a billion-dollar initiative providing cloud infrastructure and AI services to the Israeli government and military. Google's ongoing involvement with the Israeli government has sparked internal backlash as well. Employees associated with the No Tech for Apartheid group staged protests and sit-ins at company offices, after which Google terminated about 50 staff members involved. The company also rolled back a previous commitment not to use AI in surveillance or weapon development. What Is Artificial Intelligence? Explained Simply With Real-Life Examples AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
The National
09-07-2025
- Business
- The National
UK Government's new tech partner calls UN 'transparently antisemitic'
On Wednesday, the Labour administration said it would be partnering with Google Cloud and DeepMind – the firm's AI wing – in order to 'modernise government services millions of people use every day'. A press release from the UK Government's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said Google would help bodies like the NHS or local councils 'move from legacy technology to the latest 'secure-by-design' cloud technology'. Speaking at a Google Cloud summit in London on Thursday, Labour's Tech Secretary Peter Kyle said the new partnership would see "much more collaboration" between Google's "UK AI lab, DeepMind, and my own AI developers in my department, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with a new digital centre of government". READ MORE: BBC host takes issue with expert over 'Israeli concentration camps' The news came just hours after the Washington Post reported that Sergey Brin – who as one of the co-founders of Google is among the richest people in the world – had told Google DeepMind staff that the UN was 'transparently antisemitic'. A report from the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, had named Google and its parent company Alphabet as benefitting financially from a genocide being perpetrated by Israel. 'As Israel's apartheid, military and population-control systems generate increasing volumes of data, its reliance on cloud storage and computing has grown,' Albanese reported. 'In 2021, Israel awarded Alphabet Inc (Google) and Inc. a $1.2 billion contract (Project Nimbus) – largely funded through Ministry of Defense expenditure – to provide core tech infrastructure. 'Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon grant Israel virtually government-wide access to their cloud and AI technologies, enhancing data processing, decision-making and surveillance/analysis capacities … Their Israel-located servers ensure data sovereignty and a shield from accountability, under favourable contracts offering minimal restrictions or oversight. Labour's Tech Secretary Peter Kyle welcomed the Google DeepMind partnership (Image: Aaron Chown) 'In July 2024, an Israeli colonel described cloud tech as 'a weapon in every sense of the word', citing these companies.' The Washington Post reported that, in response to the report, Brin told Google DeepMind staff: 'With all due respect, throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides. 'I would also be careful citing transparently antisemitic organisations like the UN in relation to these issues.' Brin then told that paper: 'My comments came in response to an internal discussion that was citing a plainly biased and misleading report.' The UK Government has been asked if it endorses Brin's position given their newly announced partnership. It has also been asked if Google DeepMind technology will influence sources that civil servants and public bodies can use.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta illegally censored Muslim employee's pro-Palestinian posts, lawsuit claims
This story was originally published on HR Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily HR Dive newsletter. A Muslim Meta supplier analyst sued the social media giant June 24 for allegedly discriminating against him on the basis of his religious beliefs by reprimanding him and threatening further discipline for comments he posted on employee forums expressing solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In his complaint, Majeed v. Meta Platforms, Inc., the plaintiff claimed a member of Meta's Internal Community Relations team told him that his comments violated the company's 'community engagement expectations.' He also alleged he was given a verbal warning about the posts and that Meta removed his and other employees' comments protesting Israel's treatment of Palestinians, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff cited his duty, rooted in the Islamic concept of 'ummah,' a term denoting the global Muslim community, to advocate for other Muslims, particularly in the face of persecution,' per the complaint. Meta censored his religious expressions, but 'it did not discipline non-Muslims for similarly expressive speech about the Black Lives Matter movement, Israel, or Ukraine,' the lawsuit claimed. 'This selective enforcement created a double standard that disproportionately silenced Muslim voices,' the plaintiff said. He alleged disparate-treatment and disparate-impact discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as Texas state law. Workplace fallout over the Israel-Hamas War is an ongoing issue for many employers. In April, after Google fired employees who protested against Project Nimbus, the company's cloud-based computing contract with Israel, the former employees sued Google for violating Title VII and various state and local laws. In 2024, the plaintiffs also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. In their Title VII suit, the Project Nimbus plaintiffs alleged that Google unlawfully retaliated against them for opposing discriminatory treatment of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim employees. They argued in their NLRB complaint that Google's actions violated the right to advocate for better working conditions. In another case, Ben & Jerry's sued parent company Unilever for allegedly silencing the former's multiple attempts to advocate for Palestinians affected by the war and support a cease-fire. The Vermont-based ice cream maker claimed Unilever's actions breached the parties' contract, which called for Ben & Jerry's to maintain independence over its social mission and branding. Employers should keep in mind that they are generally prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, religion and national origin — all of which can be implicated in a discussion about the Israel-Hamas War — before taking action against someone for speaking out on the conflict, an attorney previously told HR Dive. The same source recommended that employers have a legally sound and practically efficient social media policy while encouraging employees who post about potentially contentious topics to state that they're speaking on behalf of themselves, not the employer. When deciding how to respond to a statement, comment, post or other activity about the war, employers may need to consider the context of what was said or done and whether the employee breached any policy in place at the time, the attorney added. Recommended Reading Health system will pay $50K to settle religious bias charge over denied flu shot exemption Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
