Wix fires employee for calling Israel a 'terrorist state'

Courtney Carey, a resident Dublin, Ireland was fired by Israeli tech company Wix for calling Israel a “terrorist state” and Zionism “the root of violence” against Gaza amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

Wix employs several hundred people in Dublin. Carey held the position of Customer Care Team Lead.

Carey posted on LinkedIn after attending a pro-Palestinian rally.

“Today I am proud to be Irish, to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Israeli apartheid amongst over 25 thousand protestors,” she wrote, accusing Israel of ndiscriminately bombing Gaza.

“The root cause of this violence is a Zionist ideology which promotes an exclusivist state which denies Palestinian identity it is also an expansionary ideology, promoting illegal settlements on Palestinian land,” she added.

Following the post, Wix received numerous inquiries and took the matter seriously. 

Nir Zohar, Wix's President and Chief Operating Officer, addressed the issue in his own LinkedIn post. 

“In the past few days I have been bombarded with messages from Israeli employees, friends and colleagues from all over the world sending screenshots of one of Wix’s employees who states that Israel is a terrorist state,” he said.

A difficult time

“Our team members in Israel have been through so much since the horrible Oct 7 Hamas attack; they are in mourning, some lost their homes, others have lost friends and family members, many have been to multiple funerals in the span of the last 2 weeks,” he added. “In the midst of this, for all the Israelis to be called terrorists by someone they perceive as a teammate and a colleague is unfathomable, unexplainable and unacceptable.”

Zohar revealed that this was not the first incident involving Carey. She had previously posted similar content and was cautioned by her manager to consider the impact on her colleagues. Although she removed the previous post accusing Israel of being a terrorist state, she chose to publish another one. 

Zohar emphasized that these allegations not only hurt the morale of the Israeli team but also jeopardize the relationship between the Dublin office and their 500 Israeli colleagues. Consequently, the decision was made to terminate her employment.