Starbucks’ employees’ union Starbucks Workers United took a step that will assuredly cost it any sympathy and support that the organization may have had with the general public. It issued Tweets expressing support for Hamas after the organization last week enacted a barbaric attack on Israeli communities, murdering and butchering countless civilians including children and babies.
A local Boston chapter of the union tweeted, “We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemn the IDF for the senseless and brutal bombing of innocent Palestinians, murder and injury, as well as for the creation and financing of Hamas in the 1980s to discourage Palestinian solidarity.”
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The Starbucks union itself tweeted, “Solidarity with Palestine!” But, even though it was quickly deleted, the damage to the union was already done.
“This is disgusting. Every American should condemn the atrocities that Iran-backed Hamas terrorists committed in Israel,” tweeted Florida Senator Rick Scott in response. “Boycott Starbucks until its leadership strongly denounces and takes action against this horrific support of terrorism.”
Yet another Tweet showed a photo of a bulldozer breaking through the Gaza border fence with Israel calling it the “Israeli occupation fence” and commenting that the Hamas attack was about “literally breaking apart the Israeli-created mass prison in the Strip.”
Starbucks also condemned the tweet issuing a statement saying, “We unequivocally condemn acts of terrorism, hate and violence, and disagree with the statements and views expressed by Workers United and its members. Workers United’s words and actions belong to them, and them alone.”
Aara Kelly, Starbucks’ executive vice president, sent a letter to Starbucks’ employees saying, “As a leadership team, we want to again express our deepest sympathy for those who have been killed, wounded, displaced and impacted following the heinous acts of terror, escalating violence and hate against the innocent in Israel and Gaza this week. Starbucks unequivocally condemns acts of hate, terrorism and violence.”
