war in gaza It leaves results even in unexpected places. Google, Aim, Amazon and other technology giants launched a campaign. boycott against Web SummitThe Congress, the industry’s largest in Europe, forced the chief executive to resign after criticizing the military intervention. Israel against Hamas.
on October 13 Paddy Cograve He openly condemned the military actions of the Jewish State. “I am astounded by the rhetoric and actions of many Western leaders and governments, with the exception of the Irish government, which has done the right thing for once. war crimes “Even if committed by the Allies, these are war crimes and must be condemned as such,” he said on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.
His words were not liked at all. Israel withdrew its participation in the congress, and Portuguese ambassador Dor Shapira accused Cosgrave of being “tolerant” of terrorism, having “extremist political views” and called for a boycott. The technological elite responded with alarm. Last week Google, Meta, Amazon, Intel And Siemens They withdrew their participation in the protests. Leading companies such as start-up accelerators have also done this. Y Joinerventure capital firm Redwood Capital or several Israeli companies.
Apologies that have no effect
Cosgrave issued a public apology last Tuesday in an effort to avoid offending Congress. “I unreservedly condemn Hamas’ evil, disgusting and monstrous attack on October 7. I also call for the unconditional release of all detainees.” hostages“He wrote on the Web Summit blog. However, he also noted that Israel “must comply with international law and the Geneva Conventions, that is, not make commitments.” war crimes“.
His apologies did not have the desired effect. Despite the promise of “I will not give up”, the controversy grew and after snowballing pressure, Cosgrave announced this Saturday that he was resigning as executive director of the congress, despite owning approximately 80% of the organization. With approximately 70,000 attendees annually, Web Summit is one of the largest technology conferences in the world. This year it is celebrated in Lisbon between 13-16 November. According to various media outlets, some of the companies that supported the boycott are considering rejoining.