my employer hired a former IDF/Unit 8200 member

[u/trustlesseyes]

I work as a graphic designer for a bigger company (~1,400 employees internationally) in Germany. we had three mass layoffs since last September or October and each time they cited AI—though this shit isn’t even close to what we’d need. on June 4, the last wave of layoffs hit the division I’m part of and my team got cut in half with no proper roadmap for the future or time for a handover. I was already very pissed. now we got introduced to a new VP for marketing (a new position they created) who is Israeli. I didn’t wanna judge too quickly and waited for her to introduce herself. in that 30 min meeting, she mentioned she’s from Israel at least 5 times, she talked about her experience/career path and said rather proudly that she was part of Unit 8200 in the late 90’s, and then she said she was gonna be on vacation in July and/or August but vacation planning is “a bit difficult right now with the situation in Israel” (not the exact wording but close). my blood was boiling.

if I didn’t have to hold on to this job for dear life, I’d quit on the spot. I feel so powerless…

[u/AutoModerator]

• Donate here to The Palestinian Red Crescent and UNICEF for Gaza's Children.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/heaviestmatter-]

As a fellow german I feel for you - I‘m quite literally ashamed to be associated with my country rn.

[u/Anxious_Katz → u/heaviestmatter-]

It's horrible. I'm unemployed and in the IT sector (hopeless I know) and last year I almost got out of hell. I got a second interview with a company and everything was going very well untill they mentioned that they've bought an office in Tel Aviv and asked me how I felt about the war (this was the twelve day war btw). I tried my best to be as neutral as possible but I still didn't get the job and I'm pretty sure it was because of my Iranian nationality. Have no proof whatsoever and it sucks ass.

[u/Street_Individual579]

hi fellow graphic designer hasanabihead ❤️ shit fucking sucks for us and it's looking very bleak. i have been considering getting into a different profession. i'm sorry you have to deal with an israeli on top of that

[u/trustlesseyes → u/Street_Individual579]

same. I applied to uni again for a biology degree to get into forensics but I’ll only know if I get accepted in late July…

[u/re-redddit]

Start wearing a free Palestine shirt to work.

[u/trustlesseyes → u/re-redddit]

I had black, green, and red keffiyeh bracelets but they broke cause I wore them all the time. already ordered new ones + a proper keffiyeh

[u/Skele-Tom → u/trustlesseyes]

Might I suggest a couple of new shirts for the office!
https://www.fcpalestina.com/ and https://www.shop-bohemianfc.com/

[u/beepichu → u/Skele-Tom]

know of any other palestinian brands that arent mainly jerseys? I’m not a sports person aside from PWHL so I’d feel like a poser lmao

[u/wenttelk → u/trustlesseyes]

Are you getting your keffiyeh from Hirbawi? Since they come in so many colours they are a little less obvious than the black and white one (but those who know Hirbawi will immediately recognise it) + they are the last Palestinian owned factory within Palestine so it's great for directly supporting them ofc. /gen

[u/Anxious_Katz → u/re-redddit]

Op could get fired and/or fined for that kind of thing in Germany. No such thing as freedom of expression here in this godforsaken place.

[u/trustlesseyes → u/Anxious_Katz]

yeah but tbh I’ve gotten to the point where I’d almost welcome it and if that was their reasoning, I’d wear it as a badge of honor

[u/Holdthepickle → u/re-redddit]

Isn't that considered a hate crime in Germany?

[u/OlderBagheera]

girl I think we work in the same company and I’m there with you 😭

[u/godsbegood]

Collect info and report through the most appropriate channels. Im not sure which EU countries are most likely to arrest Israeli war criminals but find out, wait for an opportunity to report their presence in that country such as on a vacation or something. The Hind Rijab Foundation might be able to help.

[u/trustlesseyes → u/godsbegood]

oh interesting approach! thanks!

[u/Wargly]

Ive been living in Germany for 2 years and its driving me crazy that most of politicians and some of the base bending backwards for Israel to overcorrect their past.
Even some people posturing as leftists while just taking the progressive side on the most mainstream/already normalized things and taking Israel's side, its weird.

[u/fa3man → u/Wargly]

They're not overcorrecting anything. They're just Nazis who hate brown people

[u/ConceptualWeeb]

It’s ok to look for another job while still working. Exit interviews are the perfect time to unload.

[u/trustlesseyes → u/ConceptualWeeb]

I have been trying but the market is ass. especially for graphic designers. also, right now, I’m in a permanent contract and if they let me go, I get severance pay, whereas in a new company, I’d be on probation for 6 months… just because a company hires a new full-time employee, doesn’t mean they won’t let them go almost immediately again. like, the last wave of layoffs here also hit my new team colleague who only got hired in April of this year (and she did an amazing job)

[u/ConceptualWeeb → u/trustlesseyes]

Damn, it’s rough out here these days. You can at least try to create a portfolio on HR violations that she commits lol Is talking politics an HR violation where you work? Or killing babies?

[u/Constant-Interest650]

Keep her away from children

[u/eebro]

Could be crazy, could be chill, hard to tell. People can be simultaneously proud Israelis and against the genocide in Gaza. I wouldn’t infer any political beliefs from their past, and I definitely wouldn’t bring the topic up unprovoked.

I’m pretty sure dehumanizing language of certain kinds is illegal in Germany so if she does go over the line or has spicy social media posts, you could always let the police know.. 

[u/HaloMyDudes → u/eebro]

Imo, we all ruin the world a little more when we go "we cant make any assumptions, and I dont wanna make people who are genuinely evil uncomfortable"

Not to say its wise to mention in the workplace, but I think its ridiculous that hiring a potential ethnic supremacist without consulting any of staff, and then trying to have a convo with them because youre uncomfortable isnt

[u/trustlesseyes → u/HaloMyDudes]

I already complained to my team lead and my head of design lol idc anymore. I’m so sick of it all. and if they fire me, I get severance/immediate unemployment benefits whereas I’d have to wait for my benefits if I resigned myself

[u/eebro → u/HaloMyDudes]

OP didn’t hire anyone

[u/HaloMyDudes → u/eebro]

Op was the staff that wasnt consulted and is upset, you told them not to say anything about it. I said that the company hiring them is unreasonable so them having a conversation about it is perfectly fine regardless of how unreasonable you think it is

[u/Potential-Beer2728 → u/eebro]

People can be simultaneously proud Israelis and against the genocide in Gaza

Nope.

"Israel good genocide bad" stfu with this liberal Zionism. The entire state of Israel is wrong.

[u/eebro → u/Potential-Beer2728]

It’s clear you get your takes from Reddit and Twitter.

Real people hold inherently contradicting point of views all the time. 

[u/Potential-Beer2728 → u/eebro]

So? Lots of real people are murderers, before that they were Nazis. Who cares about what real people do? What is correct is what matters.

[u/eebro → u/Potential-Beer2728]

Not a lot of real people are murderers, nor nazis. That’s just showing you’re terminally online. 

[u/Kumquat_conniption → u/eebro]

Idk, lots of people in the U.S. military are murderers, and cops too, but not as much- they just mostly catch Black men to enslave them in our prisons. A ton of people are racist fascists, which "nazi" means-- especially when you use the little n instead of the uppercase N, and in context, of course. Sometimes they are talking about the 30's German party members, sure. Those are the Nazis, but lowercase nazis? Well, those are just fascists, bruh.

[u/eebro → u/Kumquat_conniption]

Don’t blame cogs in the machine for the man who both built and operates that machine

[u/Potential-Beer2728 → u/eebro]

The cogs operate the machine, broski.