By John Pottinger, April 8, 2024
Two hundred employees, former employees and their supporters rallied outside the Apple Store in Lincoln Park, Chicago on Saturday, April 6 to protest the termination, disciplining and harassment of employees who are visibly Palestinian or visibly pro-Palestinian.
Madly Espinoza, a Palestinian recently terminated from the Apple Store, spoke at the rally stating that she started wearing a Keffiyeh back in October, which was okay with management for a while. But management soon changed their mind so she asked if she could wear a pro-Palestine bracelet instead. The store’s management agreed, but again changed their mind. Espinoza was terminated for “creating a harmful environment.”
The rallying workers reported that Apple allows employees to wear Ukrainian flag pins; apparently no Russians need apply.
The protest rally closed the Apple store for a day. Apple workers there have formed “Apples4ceasefire” and collected 299 signatures of current and former Apple workers on an open letter to Apple CEO, Tim Cook decrying Apple’s witch hunting employees for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Two days later I spoke with another Lincoln Park Apple worker who had been suspended for being “visibly pro-Palestinian.” Eight security guards, aka company thugs, are now stationed outside the store.
The Apple protest is yet another indication of the generalized feelings of solidarity that permeate US society as the Biden administration persists in its unequivocal military, economic and diplomatic support to the racist, Israeli Zionist genocide in Gaza.
