The Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, said that if a woman was fired for a post on social media about the Israel-Gaza war because of her political beliefs, he would suggest that she consult a lawyer for advice.
Courtney Carey lost her job at an Israeli technology company called Wix. Wix has around 500 employees in its office in Dublin. Courtney got fired because she called Israel a “terrorist state” on social media.
She later expressed that she disapproves of any type of violence, no matter who does it.
The president of Wix, Nir Zohar, said that their company is open-minded and tolerant, and they will never try to restrict anyone’s political opinions.
But, he said that the employee was told not to post anything offensive again after recently posting something similar, and the company later decided to let go of Ms.
The problem was discussed in the Dáil (Irish parliament’s lower house) on Tuesday. Varadkar said that he didn’t know the specifics of the situation, but he advised Ms. Carey to get advice because it’s against Irish employment law to fire someone because of their political beliefs.
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“I think that is not right and I would suggest that the woman should get advice from the WRC, a trade union or a solicitor. It might be considered as unfair firing and there are ways to fix it,” he said.
The Irish Times said that Wix made a chat group for employees to talk about supporting Israel’s story on their messaging app, Slack.
The text says that the employees were encouraged to participate in a company project to make videos and campaigns that would change how people around the world think about the Israel-Gaza war.
Mick Barry TD brought up Ms. Carey’s firing in the Irish Parliament and asked the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to comment on the situation.
This could scare many workers in our country who want to speak against a very cruel war. “It also sets a bad example where workers can lose their jobs for sharing their political opinions,” he said.
Richard Boyd Barrett, a member of People Before Profit, found the case very disturbing when he talked about it in the Dáil.
In other places, the deputy prime minister Micheál Martin has said it’s not okay for someone to lose their job just because they have their own opinions.
“We are in a democracy where we can freely discuss and express our thoughts. Everyone has the right to express their opinions, and there are different opinions on these matters,” he said to the reporters on Tuesday.
“People unknowingly being prejudiced against Israel”
The conversation is happening at a time when Ireland and Israel are having difficulties in their diplomatic relationship.
Last week, Irish President Michael D Higgins talked to reporters in Italy and said that Israel broke international law when they retaliated against attacks and kidnappings by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, was criticized for calling Mr Higgins misinformed in a way that was not helpful.
Ms Erlich also expressed doubts about Ireland’s neutrality on the war. In an interview with the Sunday Independent, she mentioned that there is a strong belief in Israel that Ireland has an unconscious preference for other sides and is unfavorable towards Israel.
In another place, a high-ranking diplomat from Israel claimed that the Republic of Ireland supported Hamas financially. However, this statement was later removed from social media.
Adi Ophir Moaz, who works for the Israeli embassy in Dublin, said on X (previously known as Twitter) that Ireland provided money for the underground passages used for harmful purposes in Gaza.
A representative from the Israeli embassy explained that they deleted the post because it did not reflect the views of Israel or the embassy, and because the wording was incorrect.