The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on HireRight, a background screening firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, to cancel its agreement with a major law firm to launch “witch hunts” into the social media profiles of students who oppose the genocidal Israeli campaign being waged in Gaza or have publicly expressed support for Palestinian human rights.
Almost 40,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered during Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. In response, overwhelmingly peaceful student protests and sit-ins and encampments were organized at universities across the country to call for an end to U.S. military support of the Israeli government’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.
SEE: A Wall Street law firm wants to define consequences of Israel protests
Sullivan & Cromwell, a Wall Street law firm, is requiring that potential applicants detail and provide an explanation for their participation in such anti-genocide protests. The firm has reportedly entered an agreement with HireRight, a company that specializes in employment background checks, to investigate such individuals and their views. Students who engaged in peaceful protests now fear they risk being disqualified from hiring processes simply for calling for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza.
As The New York Times reported, “Candidates could face scrutiny even if they weren’t using problematic language but were involved with a protest where others did.”
Sullivan & Cromwell is only the latest employer to scrutinize student activists in an apparent attempt to target pro-Palestinian activism. While private employers are allowed to hire individuals at their discretion so long as they do not engage in prohibited discrimination, by targeting students with a history of publicly supporting Palestine, HireRight will enable employers to harm the career prospects of promising young graduates for no other reason than that they support human rights for the Palestinian people and cause disproportionate impact to Muslim, Arab and Palestinian applicants.
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Mitchell said:
“Sullivan & Cromwell’s reported decision to single out students who participated in overwhelmingly peaceful university protests is nothing short of a witch hunt. Their reported plan not only threatens the legal profession’s commitment to free speech and justice for all, but risks having a discriminatory impact on Arab and Palestinian American students in particular. HireRight must immediately cancel their reported agreement to carry out this law firm’s reported witch-hunt into job applicants critical of the Israeli government’s campaign of ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and genocide.”
Sample Message:
Guy Abramo
President and CEO, HireRight
100 Centerview Dr,
Nashville, TN 37214,
United States
Dear President Abramo,
I am writing to express my deep concern and outrage regarding HireRight’s reported agreement to launch a witch hunt into the social media profiles of students and prospective job candidates in an apparent effort to identify those who have expressed support Palestinian human rights and criticism of the Israeli government. Such a witch hunt not only threatens our nation’s principles of free speech and justice for all, but also risks having a discriminatory impact on Arab, Palestinian and Muslim job applicants.
Almost 40,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered during Israel’s genocidal campaign targeting Palestinians in Gaza. Tens of thousands more indirect deaths are predicted, resulting from the Israeli government’s targeting of essential infrastructure in Gaza such as food, water, shelter, and the health system. According to the World Health Organization, the Gaza Strip is facing an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
In response, many college and university students engaged in a long American tradition of peaceful protest and civil disobedience to call on their universities and the United States government to end their support for the Israeli government’s human rights violations and war crimes against Palestinians.
Investigating student activists opposed to genocide in Gaza discourages a valuable and deeply American tradition of civic participation that is so essential to the strength of our society. Student-led movements have resulted in some of the most important social and cultural shifts in recent history. Through peaceful protest and civil disobedience, many important advancements in American history–ending child labor, voting rights for women, ending school segregation–came to pass. The smearing and silencing of students who have engaged in peaceful protest in recent months threatens free speech principles and directly strikes at the foundations of American democracy.
Additionally, we caution that the adoption of this method of pre-employment screening may ultimately violate civil rights laws by resulting in the discriminatory targeting of Muslim and Palestinian applicants. By creating a ‘blacklist’ of individuals who have participated in ceasefire protests or publicly expressed solidarity with Palestine, HireRight risks producing a mechanism of systemic anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination in employment.
Background employment screenings are an important element of the hiring process. For it to be weaponized to punish and discourage students from participating in civic engagement goes beyond acceptable hiring practices. As a leading employment company, HireRight has an obligation to ensure that every individual has an equal opportunity to gain employment, free from discrimination.
I ask that you reconsider your stance on this critical matter.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, csaylor@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-999-8292, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com