Man critical of terror attack and it costs him his job? Hopefully Europe returns back to freedom. I imagine that if 9/11 happened today Europeans would be fired for calling out Bin Laden. Quite a sad decline in Western liberty, frightening really. Supporting Israel and calling out evil terrorists is now unacceptable in the U.K
‘I condemned the Oct 7 massacre. It cost me my job’
A sewage worker was sacked after condemning the
Oct 7 massacre, The Telegraph can reveal.
Damon Joshua was dismissed by Severn Trent Water after he described Hamas as “a group of violent and
disgusting terrorists” in a post on the company’s staff intranet website on the anniversary of the attack.
The post was taken down by managers at the company following internal complaints that “the terminology being used includes very derogatory words” and “is very one-sided”.
One has to jump through a few 'hoops' to sign in to see the article, that also suggests a limit on future views at "The
telegraph". To spare reads that scam, select excerpts;
"
In the post in question, Mr Joshua said: “One year ago our valued partners and friends, Israel, were horrifically attacked by a group of violent and disgusting terrorists.
“I can say with confidence today that the vast majority of STW’s employees stand in solidarity with our Jewish, Israeli and Zionist colleagues against the
evil of Islamist terror.”
The post also included an image of the flag of Israel.
Mr Joshua told The Telegraph: “It happened in a matter of hours. I made the post at 7.50. I got a call from my manager at 10 or 11 telling me that it had been taken down. At 1pm I got called to a meeting room on the site that I was working on. My manager and her manager were there and I was suspended. "
Details of management reaction;
"
He added: “They used the word ‘derogatory’ for the words I had used to describe a terrorist organisation, which shocked me. It seems quite shocking to me. How could it be one-sided or derogatory to
oppose a terrorist. Surely this is only one-sided.”
Mr Joshua says he made the post following messages to managers asking if they would do anything to commemorate the anniversary of the attacks, to which he says he received no reply.
At his disciplinary hearing he was told that the post had caused “significant offence” to three members of staff who complained about it.
Managers concluded that “this offence is in relation to a protected characteristic, specifically religious belief” and dismissed him for gross misconduct.
He was told that “the language used in the post caused offence to employees with
different perspectives, particularly those with Muslim or Palestinian backgrounds”.
Mr Joshua argued throughout the disciplinary process that his post had not mentioned any religious group other than Jews and only referred to “Islamist terror”, not Islam.
He told The Telegraph: “There’s a distinction that I was trying to make between Islamist terror and Islam. I didn’t want to link it with all of Islam. Because there is a big difference. Not all followers of Islam are Islamists and the attack was perpetrated by Hamas who are an Islamist terror organisation.”
Mr Joshua claimed that in the disciplinary hearing that one of his managers asked “how do you think a Palestinian employee would feel reading this?”
They also raised concerns that “the wording in the post explicitly suggests support of a particular geopolitical stance”. They told Mr Joshua his claim that the majority of STW staff supported Israel “creates exclusion and assumptions of solidarity”. "
....
“It has definitely made me think twice about expressing my views in public.
“There is a whole war on free speech in this country at the moment. Lots of people know it but are too scared to stand up against it.”
...
Mr Joshua was represented in his case by the Free Speech Union.
Dr Ben Jones, Director of Case Management at the Free Speech Union, said: “We’ve dealt with 3,500 cases but the facts of Damon’s are particularly shocking. Sacking somebody for condemning Hamas is one of the most egregious cases of cancel culture we’ve seen.”
...
Damon Joshua was sacked by Severn Trent Water for causing ‘significant offence’ after calling Hamas ‘disgusting terrorists’ on staff portal
www.telegraph.co.uk
