U.S. corporations should avoid international issues

During the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, several corporations in the U.S. have passed resolutions in favor of Israel. In other countries, I can imagine, the same must have been done in favor of Palestinians. As a person who focuses on interfaith relations, building bridges and collaborating on causes of the common good, I find this corporate practice very disturbing.

One must ask: What do corporations have to do with a longstanding international conflict?

When corporations take sides in political issues, particularly in such emotional, long-standing multinational issues, the subsequent polarization of workforces is inevitable. Employees sympathetic to the other side of the discourse are put in an awkward situation. Political resolutions by executives marginalize these employees. They don't feel safe voicing their opinions anymore, even with co-workers. Is this ethical concern unfounded? I don't think so.

Polarizing resolutions erode the atmosphere of trust that companies work hard to build. Trust and understanding among co-workers are essential for working together and are jeopardized by such reductive top-down unilateral decisions. Notice that the executives' stand and stance on the same issue do not matter if it is on an individual basis.

By passing resolutions, corporations alienate minority and even majority opinion holders within their own corporate culture and cause polarization that undermines the very fabric the corporations build to move their business forward smoothly.

Instead of helping resolve conflicts appropriately with healthy discourse, we bring them home and into our workplaces.

Irfan Sarwar

Wheeling