Amazon boycott calls rise after executive wears Palestinian flag pendant in company video

Amazon executive wearing a pendant with Palestinian flag in a company video sparked boycott calls.

An Amazon executive appeared in a company video wearing a pendant shaped like Israel’s map with the Palestinian flag, leading some to call for a boycott of Amazon.

Ruba Borno, Amazon Web Services’ vice president of Global Specialists and Partner Organizations, was seen with the necklace in a video promoting an event in Las Vegas.

Courtesy: Amazon

Borno, originally Palestinian, fled Kuwait with her family during the first Gulf War in 1990 and moved to the U.S., where she earned advanced degrees in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Michigan.

Courtesy: Amazon

Amazon has since taken down the video, with a spokesperson telling DailyMail.com: "The video shot was not meant to be a political statement, but we've taken down the video and will repost a new one in the coming days."

Courtesy: Ebay

A similar necklace was seen on Ebay.

The company also mentioned that its leadership "remains in regular contact with our teams based in the region to offer our support."

Since the controversy arose, Borno appears to have deactivated her X account.

She has been with Amazon Web Services since November 2021, after holding positions at Experian, Cisco, and the Boston Consulting Group.

Various social media users expressed differing views on the situation.

"Vile. This is unacceptable and warrants immediate termination @JeffBezos," one person replied to the X account Hamas Atrocities, which had reposted the video before its removal.

"Canceling my subscription to prime video," another user posted.

"Such a disgusting woman," a third individual commented.

Another user mentioned they would switch to buying from Temu, an e-commerce competitor, instead of Amazon.

Many tagged Amazon's official account or Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but still serves as executive chairman and largest shareholder.

Jewish Insider, a news outlet focused on U.S. and Middle East politics, was the first to highlight Borno wearing the necklace.

Although the video sparked outrage among some viewers, others downplayed its significance.

"Tbh this doesn't seem worth getting mad about," one commenter said.

"This is such a reach," added another.

Jewish Insider noted that an employee of Amazon’s subsidiary Annapurna Labs had been kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.

That employee, 28-year-old Sasha Troufanov, has not been freed after more than a year in captivity.

Hamas took over 250 hostages after killing around 1,200 people during the attacks.