Amazon workers spread conspiracy theories about Israeli control of American leaders and drew an equivalence between Palestinian terrorists and Sasha Troufanov, an employee of the company who was taken hostage by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Oct. 7, 2023, and released last month, Jewish Insider learned over the weekend.

In messages viewed by JI from an Amazon employee Slack channel called “#arabs,” one staffer wrote: “Yes Hamas will release 3 Israelis, one being Sasha, in exchange for 369 Palestinian hostages kept in Israeli dungeons.” Over 40 employees sent emojis expressing approval. 

One responded: “Praying Israel doesn’t re-kidnap them again after their long awaited release, as has been the case many times.” 

An Israeli employee noted in the channel that the Palestinians the original poster referred to as “hostages” included Ahmed Barghouti, who was involved in several terrorist attacks in which 12 Israelis were murdered; Mantzur Sharim, who was involved in a mass shooting at an event hall in Hadera in which six Israelis were killed and 26 wounded; and Nael Obeid, convicted in connection to the 2003 Cafe Hillel bombing in which seven Israelis were murdered and 57 wounded.

“Are you praying for these ‘hostages’?” she wrote.

According to an Amazon source, the Israeli employee’s message was deleted by moderators soon after.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy did not publicly refer to Troufanov being held hostage during the 498 days the Amazon Web Services engineer was captive in Gaza. After Troufanov’s February release, Jassy wrote to Amazon employees that he was “incredibly relieved.” Jassy said the company “had a dedicated team working behind the scenes with experts to support efforts to secure their release and to ensure that we did the right thing for them and their safety (including painfully not commenting publicly for fear that we would negatively impact their ability to be released or how they were treated in captivity).”

Israeli media reported that Troufanov was in isolation for most of the 16 months that he was held hostage and underwent physical abuse. 

In another message on the #arabs channel, an Amazon employee shared a post from X claiming that legislation to ban TikTok unless it is no longer under the Chinese Communist Party’s control came from “the Israel Lobby,” which, the X post suggested, are the Anti-Defamation League and former Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, who is Jewish.

Evoking conspiracy theories about Jewish control of government, the Amazon employee who shared the post wrote that the proposed bill “has never been about ‘security concerns’ or ‘China.’ It’s all because of Gaza.”

At the start of the most recent cease-fire in January, when Israel allowed Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, participants in the #arabs channel celebrated. “Netsarim has fallen, the colonizers have fallen, and soon we shall all return,” one Amazon employee wrote, adding a Palestinian flag. Dozens of employees responded with approving emojis. Some responded with keys, a symbol of Palestinians hoping to return to homes their families lost in Israel’s War of Independence, which they refer to as the Nakba. 

“Scenes of the Holy Return burn the hearts of terrorists, shatter their dreams of displacement and pave the way for the Great Return of all indigenous people to the Holy Land,” read another post, which received nine key emojis in response, as well as hearts and Palestinian flags.

In that vein, an employee wrote that he asks Allah to return to “Bait Nabala,” a village that was near what is now Ben Gurion Airport. “Inshallah [God willing] we will return and build houses and schools there one day,” he wrote.

One posted a photo that appeared to be of masses of Palestinians moving north with a large Palestinian flag.

“Palestine has room for only one flag, and these are its colours,” he wrote.

One of the reaction emojis was of an Israeli flag. One Amazon worker suggested that they ignore such attempts to “provoke” at work: “Outside of work we can take legal means to challenge them.”

“It’s nice to remind the world how Zionism is an evil minority,” the original poster wrote.

Taking offense at the Israeli flag was a recurring theme in the Slack channel.

A Sweden-based employee posted photos of Medjool dates that he saw in the supermarket, the packaging of which featured the silhouette of the map of Israel, but with a Palestinian flag. The box also had a keffiyeh pattern and a picture of the Dome of the Rock and part of the Western Wall on it, and the words “free Palestine.” 

In addition to the many supportive emojis, six responded with Israeli flags.

“Remove your emoji. Such racist behavior will not be tolerated at Amazon,” someone wrote, tagging an Israeli. 

“Posting the map of my country with [an]other flag is offensive as well, just saying,” a different Israeli employee wrote back.

“You are posting a flag associated with genocide of Palestine in an Arabs slack,” the Amazon worker responded. 

Another employee posted a screenshot of a list of the employees who reacted with an Israeli flag.

An Amazon spokesperson told JI in response that “many of these assertions lack important context, and it’s inaccurate and misleading to suggest we tolerate hostility in our workplace. We realize this has been a difficult time for many, and we remain focused on supporting all of our employees.”

In addition, the spokesperson said that they are ”very relieved that our colleague, Sasha Troufanov, who had been held hostage was released. We’re grateful that he is reunited with his family, and we’re focused on supporting them during this time.”

Amazon has a policy of regularly reviewing internal content, such as Slack channels, to address concerns. 

An attempt by JI to contact Troufanov for a response via the Hostages Families Forum did not receive a response.

Jewish and Israeli Amazon employees have complained about the company’s tolerance for antisemitism and anti-Israel incitement on internal chats since the Oct. 7 attacks, including denial that the attacks took place, claiming that Israel was to blame for the mass casualties and calling for the elimination of Israel. The workers, speaking to JI on condition of anonymity, said that the company did not deal with the internal complaints they opened. 

At the time, an Amazon spokesperson said in response to the employees’ allegations: “We don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind in the workplace. We investigate all reported incidents of such behavior and take appropriate action against any employee who is found to have violated our policies, up to and including termination.”

Amazon also told JI this week that the company supports a variety of employee groups. 

Late last year, in a video promoting an event for Amazon Web Services, the subsidiary of the company where Troufanov worked, an executive wore a necklace shaped like the map of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza with a Palestinian flag across it. 

Amazon has over 1,000 employees in Israel, to whom it offered financial assistance after the Oct. 7 attacks.