Comments about Israel and Gaza continue to elicit swift rebukes – from across the conflict. As corporate boycotts and political pundits multiply, CCI Editorial Director Jennifer L. Gaskin explores the implications for ethics and compliance.
Most of the other stories you see on this site today have been written through thought leaders in the business integrity community. The topic can be compliance careers, third-party threat management, or internal investigations.
Regardless of the topic, all of those stories started the same way: a proposal. When an editor needs to publish something on our site, he sends us an email about it, telling us the content of his article so we can know if it is correct. for you, our readers. In a given week, we receive 50 to 75 of these presentations, and when major news stories occur, we tend to see an increase in the number of presentations related to the implications of that news on the integrity of the company.
When news of the Hamas terror attack began to circulate in early October, and especially after Israel’s retaliation and the upcoming invasion of Gaza, I expected to start receiving similar arguments for the resumption of violence in the Middle East.
But that didn’t happen. Not at all. In fact, we haven’t won any proposals that address compliance, threats, governance, or corporate culture issues similar to the ongoing fighting in Gaza, and it’s not because there aren’t any. The violence in Gaza touches on many similar issues, adding threat management, ethics, and culture.
With the great tension surrounding this topic, it’s evident why writers don’t talk to us about it: no one needs to take risks. This clash is the third hurdle when it comes to idea leadership, at least in our industry: touch it and you’re toasted.
Corporate integrity professionals are, understandably, risk-averse individuals. Their job is not to be at the forefront of politics, and the industry thought leaders who contribute to our pages tend to be measured and cautious in what they say. Their reluctance on any sensitive subject is therefore understandable.
However, many have triumphed over those hesitations when dealing with other global conflicts, adding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has elicited contributions on the interconnected implications of risks, the risk of civil unrest, sanctions, the banking sector, chain-of-origin disruptions, anti-corruption efforts, and industry pressures. Continuity planning.
And participants have tackled thorny issues closer to home, adding the homicide of George Floyd, Covid-era myths about HIPAA compliance, the 2022 shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and gender expression.
I advised the authors to edit topics that indirectly have effects on Gaza without mentioning them directly, such as counter-terrorism investment and cryptocurrencies, and have avoided conflict. Even when I asked for quotes for this column, most of the other people I spoke to (naturally) decided not to participate, though there are still deep facets of compliance, risk, and business integrity to be explored.
“I think it’s simply and morally obligatory to denounce Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7,” said Lisa Schor Babin, an ethics representative and average columnist, “but it’s hard to give an opinion beyond that without offending someone. “”Any party to this conflict. The safest and simplest way is, of course, to remain silent, but I am surprised that there is so much silence on this network when there may simply be a discussion about our not unusual humanity in this larger conflict.
The nature of the existing crisis, with its roots in generational issues, also plays a role, Schor Babin said, as does the margin of contradiction that separates Gaza from other issues.
“A lot of those other issues . . . they’re very binary, although there are always some nuances, as is the case with people’s perspectives on abortion rights, for example,” Schor Babin said. “But it’s not a binary issue. We will all have to condemn terrorism, adding Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7. But on the broader issue of the Israeli-Hamas war and the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, I think many are very contradictory, because it’s conceivable to have two or more opposing perspectives on this scenario and have them all be true and authentic. It is also a deeply private issue for many, as it considers identity, history, ethnicity, heritage, faith, all of which may clash with our specific political perspectives.
In many industries, intervening in one way or another in this clash can have serious consequences for an individual’s career. In fact, the pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian perspectives have sparked a backlash that has cost other people their jobs.
Such terminations would possibly be within the bounds of the law, depending on applicable contractual orders and agreements.
“Lately the law doesn’t distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’: if the employer is offended, they have sufficient justification to cancel the offer,” Ryan Stygar, a California-based employment lawyer, told HuffPost.
That’s not to say employers don’t owe their employees anything, Schor Babin said.
“First and foremost, [employers should] provide a forum and team to express their concerns and fears about their family and provide them with an environment to do so,” Schor Babin said.
The fears Schor Babin speaks of are not theoretical. In Chicago, for example, incidents against Jews and Muslims have increased since Hamas attacks, and elsewhere there have been reports of an increase in bias-motivated attacks.
“There’s a very long history of anti-Semitism, and those occasions have sparked a lot of concern and anger about an anti-Semitism that, it turns out, lurks just below the surface and is now manifesting itself strongly in all spaces of society. life,” said Schor Babin. It’s scary, and I can tell you that from personal experience. At the same time, Islamophobia in this country is also very serious, frightening and widespread. In short, this is not a clash brewing somewhere on the other side of the world. It happens in our own garden and even among friends and family.
But when it comes to what’s prohibited, corporations want to preempt their policies and what happens if those policies are violated, he said: “Provide transparent policies so that workers perceive their protections and responsibilities, as well as their consequences. “in the event of non-compliance.
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