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On Saturday, a small group of protesters destroyed the Apple Store in Chicago's Lincoln Park, protesting Apple's use of labor in Africa and its disciplinary actions . at least one employee wears pro-Palestinian clothing.
Saturday's protest was peaceful but led to the store closing early, followed by a heavy police presence. A group called Apples4Ceasefire organized the protest, claiming that a Palestinian store employee was wrongly fired for wearing accessories in support of the Palestinian people, including the traditional keffiyeh.
The group, which has about 300 members who say they are current or former Apple employees, said the Lincoln Park store shooting was not an isolated incident.
“In fact, anyone who dared to express support for the Palestinian people in the form of kaffiyehs, pins, bracelets or clothing was persecuted under the pretext of violating business ethics and creating a harmful environment,” the letter said.
The protest was sparked by the firing of former Lincoln Park store employee Madeley (pronounced “Medley”) Espinoza, who specifically asked Apple managers if they were allowed to wear a keffiyeh at work and was given permission to do so. As the conflict in the Gaza Strip dragged on, she was asked not to wear the dress anymore.
Espinoza switched to wearing pro-Palestinian jewelry, again after receiving permission from managers, along with about 40 other employees who wore similar accessories. She was later fired and the others were reprimanded and told that her actions were “too political.”
An open letter from a group called Apples4Ceasefire states that it is disappointed and shocked by the “lack of care and understanding this company has provided to the Palestinian community suffering not only across the border in the Gaza Strip, but beyond.” our team members and everyone who supports them in our stores and offices.”
URGENT: Apple Store closes in Chicago amid pro-Palestinian protests
Protesters entered Apple Lincoln Park store in Chicago today, inside chanting “Free, free Palestine” during a demonstration against the tech company. A protester was handing out leaflets that read “Stop exploiting DR pic.twitter.com/X5fV1TgDzT
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) April 6, 2024
In addition to protesting the employee's firing, a group of protesters at the store also demanded that Apple leave the Democratic Republic of Congo, where some rare earth and other materials are mined. in a letter to employees about the deaths of Israelis after the first Hamas attack.
A group of Google employees also protested the search giant's decision to fund an Israeli tech conference held last month in New York. One Google Cloud engineer was fired from the company after crashing a keynote at an event.
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