A commodities trading firm has fired an oil analyst over a widely circulated video of the employee’s confrontation related to the Israel-Hamas war with a person who identified himself as Jewish.
Freepoint Commodities said in a statement on Saturday that it was “aware of the recent antisemitic incident reported on social media” and that the employee, who the Financial Times identified as Kurush Mistry, was no longer associated with the company.
In the viral video of the incident, the man identified as Mistry is seen taping signs to a lamppost that read “Israel is an apartheid state and commits genocide” and “Occupiers face consequences.”
He appeared to be papering over flyers for hostages taken by the Palestinian group Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Israel says that the group took about 200 hostages and killed about 1,200 people in the surprise attack, prompting a heavy bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces.
More than 11,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the attack, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry.
During the heated exchange, Mistry also told the man behind the camera, who identified himself as a Jewish American, to “go and live in Israel” and “go back to your country.”
“Freepoint is committed to fostering a culture of mutual respect and tolerance,” the commodities firm said in the Saturday statement. “We welcome the diversity of views and opinions held by our employees, but Freepoint does not tolerate discrimination and hate speech directed against any group.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there has been a 316 percent increase in antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment in the U.S. in the month since the conflict began.
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