An Amazon executive sparked outrage on social media after wearing a necklace in a company video featuring a pendant shaped like the map of Israel with a Palestinian flag imposed on top of it. Several users were outraged, threatening to cancel their Prime memberships and calling for the executive to be fired.
Ruba Borno, Amazon Web Services' Vice President of Global Specialists and Partner Organizations, was seen wearing the necklace in a video promoting a company event in Las Vegas. The map on Borno's necklace encompasses what is today Israel, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip—territories that Palestinians seek as the foundation for their own independent state.
Hurting Customers Sentiment
Originally from Palestine, Borno and her family fled Kuwait during the 1990 Gulf War. After moving to the United States, she went on to earn advanced degrees in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Michigan.
Amazon confirmed that the video has since been removed. "The video shot was not meant to be a political statement, but we've taken down the video and will repost a new one in the coming days," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
Amazon stated that its leadership "continues to stay in regular communication with our teams in the region to provide support."
Following the controversy, Borno appears to have deleted her X account.
She has been with Amazon Web Services since November 2021, after holding roles at Experian, Cisco, and the Boston Consulting Group.
Several X accounts supportive of Israel took screenshots of the video and shared them with thousands of users, accusing Borno of wanting to destroy Israel by advocating for a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea."
"Vile. This is unacceptable and warrants immediate termination," an X commenter, Alex Wilner, wrote. Wilner tagged Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who resigned as CEO but continues to be the company's largest shareholder.
Social Media Users Furious
One X user, Michael Expand, wrote: "Canceling my subscription to prime video." Another person wrote: "thanks for supporting the genocide of Israelis. very comforting."
Others pointed out that an Israeli man, Alexander Sasha Trupanov, who works for an Amazon subsidiary in Israel, is currently being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas militants took numerous Israelis captive after carrying out a massacre that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people on October 7 of last year. Amazon has faced criticism for not publicly calling for Hamas to release Trupanov.
In light of the backlash, Borno made her posts on X private.
Borno, 42, is of Palestinian descent and her family resided in Kuwait until Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, invaded in 1990.
Before the Gulf War, Kuwait had a large Palestinian expatriate community, exceeding 350,000 people.
However, Palestinians were thrown out of Kuwait after the late Yasser Arafat, then leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, expressed support for Saddam's invasion. Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait by a coalition led by the United States.
Because one of Borno's sisters was born in the United States, she and her family were evacuated from Kuwait by the U.S. Embassy.
