An Amazon executive appeared in a company video wearing a pendant shaped like a map of Israel emblazoned with the Palestinian flag, prompting some to call for a boycott of the tech behemoth.
Ruba Borno, vice president of Global Specialists and Partner Organizations for Amazon Web Services, was spotted donning the necklace in a video promoting a company conference in Las Vegas.
Borno, a Palestinian by birth, fled Kuwait with her parents during the first Gulf War in 1990. The family came to the United States, where Borno received advanced degrees in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Michigan.
Amazon has since removed the video, with a company spokesperson telling DailyMail.com: ‘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.’
Amazon added that its leadership ‘remains in regular contact with our teams based in the region to offer our support.’
Since this controversy blew up, Borno appears to have deleted her X account.
Wow. Amazon sure was quick to remove an official company video of its senior VP Ruba Borno — wearing a “From the river to the sea” necklace.👇
But more than a year later and Amazon still hasn’t acknowledged its employee — Sasha Trufanov — was taken hostage and remains captive. pic.twitter.com/kFhisqLqsN
— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) October 14, 2024
She has worked at Amazon Web Services since November 2021, with previous stints at Experian, Cisco and the Boston Consulting Group.
People across social media shared differing opinions on the display.
‘Vile. This is unacceptable and warrants immediate termination @JeffBezos,’ a user replied to the X account Hamas Atrocities, which reposted the video before it was taken down.
‘Canceling my subscription to prime video,’ another wrote.
‘Such a disgusting woman,’ a third added.
One commenter said they would start buying products from Temu, another e-commerce marketplace, instead of Amazon.
Many tagged Amazon’s company account or Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but remains the executive chairman and largest shareholder.
Jewish Insider, an outlet covering politics and policy in the US and the Middle East, was the first to flag Borno wearing the necklace.
The video, while sparking outrage from many commenters, also attracted some who thought Borno’s necklace wasn’t a big deal.
‘Tbh this doesn’t seem worth getting mad about,’ one person wrote.
‘This is such a reach,’ another said.
Jewish Insider pointed out that an employee working at Amazon subsidiary Annapurna Labs was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.
That employee of the Tel Aviv-based company, 28-year-old Sasha Troufanov, has not been freed after more than a year in captivity.
Hamas took more than 250 hostages after killing roughly 1,200 people in the attacks.
