A Jewish commentator believes that an Amazon employee may have placed a “Free Palestine” sticker on a recent order of Israeli flags.
Eyal Yakoby, a student at the University of Pennsylvania whose X bio states he’s “combating anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism plaguing our country,” suggested that an employee at the e-commerce giant could be behind the sticker in a post to social media this week.
“This is extremely unprofessional,” Yakoby wrote. “@amazon please investigate your employees.”
The allegation quickly stirred up a wide range of reactions from those both opposed to and supportive of Yakoby’s politics.
Although Yakoby did not directly claim to be the owner of the package, many alleged that the fiasco was nothing more than a publicity stunt.
In a widely liked comment from a pro-Palestine account, Yakoby was accused of placing the sticker on the package himself to garner sympathy. The comment, from the account known as “Propaganda and co,” also included footage of Yakoby previously speaking to Congress about antisemitism.
“Always crying. You probably false flagged yourself,” Propaganda and co wrote. “Do us all a favor and stfu.”
Other pro-Palestine users argued the same as well, accusing Yakoby of planting the sticker himself.
“Looks like an inside job to me, like YOU did it! Stop trying to frame Amazon,” one user said.
“You put that on there yourself, didn’t you?” another user asked.
Yet supporters of Yakoby joined in on questioning Amazon over the sticker.
“This is unacceptable and Amazon will probably not be able to stop this behaviour because they abuse workers so badly that they are not able to retain competent people,” the user @annelovesfilm wrote.
Numerous users also urged Amazon to open an investigation into the matter.
“Go to the app and report issue with the delivery specifically and they can find the driver,” one user responded.
This is 100% unacceptable @JeffBezos!! @amazon, investigate and make sure this NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!” another said.
Amazon eventually responded by urging Yakoby to delete his post due to the image containing “personally identifiable information.”
“@EYakoby We encourage not including personally identifiable information over social media,” the Amazon Help account replied. “If you’d like to delete your Tweet, click the ‘v’ or ‘…’ icon at the top of the tweet and select ‘Delete Tweet.’”
Yakoby, however, denied that the image he shared contained any personal data and then criticized Amazon for trying to help.
“Nothing personally identifies the person. The address is crossed out and the QR codes have been expired,” he said. “This seems like the best way to bring the broader issue to your attention.”
But some users claimed that the red sticker at the bottom of the package could be used to pinpoint an address.
Meanwhile, many of Yakoby’s fans vowed to boycott Amazon while accusing the company of attempting to cover up the issue.
“You would want @EYakoby to delete this tweet, @AmazonHelp,” popular right-wing commentator Ryan Fournier said. “He is exposing your employee’s unhinged antisemitism. Eyal doesn’t bend a knee to antisemites.”
Others online made similar claims.
While some joked that the Amazon Help employee had successfully shut down the account, others accused the person behind it of having some implicit biases.
The Amazon Help account followed up by sending Yakoby a link where he could contact the company to officially report the incident.
Yakoby, however, continued to publicly demand the issue be investigated but didn’t say if he completed the form to report it.
“I just want @amazon to investigate,” he said. “I am quite confident this did not come from the top, but instead an employee who should be investigated.”
The Daily Dot reached out to both Yakoby and Amazon to inquire on the matter but did not receive replies by press time.
The allegations come amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine war, which has led to widespread protests on college campuses across the U.S.
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