A GoFundMe has been launched for Courtney Carey, the Irish woman sacked from her job at Wix after expressing pro-Palestinian views on the social media platform LinkedIn.
Carey wrote "FREE PALESTINE" and "ISRAEL IS A TERRORIST STATE" in public comments on LinkedIn while she was a Customer Care Team Lead at Wix in Dublin. The company is headquartered in Tel Aviv.
In another, lengthier public comment, Carey sought to contextualize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an Irish point of view.
"The IRA was sort of our Hamas they came from a nationalist uprising against colonialism from Britain that then turned in later years into a terrorist group," Carey wrote.
"When people conflate Irish people with IRA, it's highly offensive as we regular people are not terrorists and we are not radical for wanting the land that was taken from us so many years ago.
"When an Irish person says 'Free Palestine,' we see this as the causation of this war.
"We don't support Hamas or their actions and we don't support Israel and the IDF's actions.
"As a country, we support people under oppression. That is why there is a strong solidarity between Palestinians and Irish.
"What's happening in Israel right now is awful and wrong and what's happening in Gaza is awful and wrong.
"Please understand that we are not antisemitic, we just want to support those we view to be oppressed."
In another post, Carey wrote in part: "Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem all conclude Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid due to its racist policies against the Palestinian people."
She later edited this post to add: "I would like to make it abundantly clear that although some may interpret my support for Palestinians as an act of support for Hamas. This is absolutely not the case. I condemn all forms of terrorism regardless of the perpetrator or victim."
On October 21, screenshots of Carey's comments were shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Dr. Eli David who accused her of 'supporting terrorists' and told her to "enjoy unemployment."
David's post has been seen more than 6.5 million times at the time of publication on Thursday.
Meet Courtney Carey ?
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 21, 2023
She supports terrorists.
She thinks Israel is a terrorist state.
She works for @Wix
Fun fact: Wix is an Israeli ?? company
Enjoy unemployment Courtney ? pic.twitter.com/949ZHxi0RM
In a follow-up post, David shared screenshots of Carey's LinkedIn profile, which appeared to show that she no longer works at Wix.
Courtney Carey posted yesterday: “Israel is a terrorist state”, while working for Wix, an Israeli company.
Yesterday: Today: pic.twitter.com/VkHmLYxjQO
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 22, 2023
Nir Zohar, the COO and President of Wix.com, discussed the situation in his own social media post on October 23.
Zohar said he was "bombarded" with messages from Israeli employees, friends, and colleagues "sending screenshots of one of Wix’s employees who states that Israel is a terrorist state."
Zohar acknowledged that Wix's team members in Israel "have been through so much since the horrible Oct 7 Hamas attack," noting that there is "so much pain and personal trauma."
He continued: "In the midst of this, for all the Israelis to be called terrorists by someone they perceive as a teammate and a colleague is unfathomable, unexplainable, and unacceptable.
"The employee posted something inflammatory of a similar kind last week. She was asked by her manager to be sensitive to her peers after being told how much pain this is causing her foreign colleagues and removed that post, yet only a few days later chose to post the above mentioned post that essentially points a blaming finger at the victims of horrific terrorism."
Describing Wix as a "global," "open, and "liberal" company that would "never try to limit anyone’s political views," Zohar said "we do however also hold a strong set of internal values about our team spirit, partnership, and friendship.
"These accusations in such troubling times not only harm our Israeli team's spirit, they also threaten the great connection between our Dublin offices with our 500 team members and their Israeli colleagues.
"We therefore decided to part ways with this employee."
Carey has since told The News Letter that she was dismissed for alleged “gross misconduct."
She further said that she has "been contacted by many lawyers offering their advice to go for unfair dismissal as I have a strong case.”
Carey, who says she has not received any severance pay after being let go from Wix, has since shared a GoFundMe that was launched by one of her friends to support her "financial and legal costs."
At the time of publication on Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe for Carey has raised €3,231 of its €5,000 goal from 122 donations in less than a day.
Meanwhile, Carey’s case was raised in the Dáil on Tuesday, October 24 by Richard Boyd Barrett and Mick Barry, both TDs with People Before Profit.
Responding, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar acknowledged he does not know the details of the matter, but said: “Under Irish employment law, it is not okay to dismiss somebody because of their political views.
“I believe that to be wrong and would encourage the woman concerned to seek advice, whether from the WRC, a trade union or a solicitor, because it may well constitute wrongful dismissal and there are remedies that would then apply.
“Of course, all the facts would need to be known before we know what the outcome will be.”
Similarly, Tánaiste Micheál Martin told reporters at the Global Ireland Summit in Dublin: “Employees generally should be allowed their individual viewpoints.
"We live in a democracy here, we tolerate debate, freedom of speech, and freedom of opinion.
“People are entitled to different perspectives once they don’t advocate for violence in pursuit of those objectives.
He added: “We uphold the right of people for freedom of expression.”
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