‘Double Standards and Hypocrisy’: The Dissent at Cisco Over the War in Gaza

Over the past year, Cisco publicly looked like one of the few tech companies that had avoided internal backlash over its response to the war in Gaza. And as recently as two months ago, Francine Katsoudas, Cisco’s chief people, policy, and purpose officer, smiled as she posed for photos with many of the company’s employee organizations, including the one for Palestinians. “We have been targeted and harassed, sabotaged and defamed,” says João Silva Jordão, a software licensing manager in Lisbon who quit Cisco last month in disgust after four years at the company. It’s double standards and hypocrisy.” Then-Cisco employee João Silva Jordão seen on April 27, 2024, outside the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon wearing a T-shirt that caused turmoil inside the company. Photograph: Ghassan Qasem Meanwhile, another recent ex-employee, who was fired, says some Jewish workers at Cisco believe the company has not adequately stopped harassment against them by the Palestinian groups.