An illuminated Ford company sign shines on the sidelines of a works meeting at the company’s Germany site in Cologne, Dec. 10, 2024. (Christoph Reichwein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(JTA) — For a period of time on Monday, anyone tuning into the X account of Ford Motor Company could see three pro-Palestinian tweets that had nothing to do with the car company’s business.
“Free Palestine 🇵🇸,” said the first message. Another followed a minute later: “Israel is a terrorist state.” Moments later, a third: “ALL EYES ON GAZA.”
The messages were soon deleted and Ford said in a statement that they had not been permitted.
“Our X account was briefly compromised and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford,” the company said. “We are investigating the issue, and apologize for any confusion caused.”
The incident comes nearly 15 months into the Israel-Hamas war, which has ignited fierce criticism of Israel’s operations in Gaza. It carried particular resonance because of Ford’s headquarters in Detroit, an area with a large Arab-American population where pro-Palestinian advocacy has been strong, and because of the company’s history of antisemitism emanating from its founder, Henry Ford.
Ford’s record of antisemitism included using a newspaper he owned to spread antisemitism, including the notorious forgery “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” (A Jewish production company is currently trying to turn a 2012 book about the Dearborn Independent into a feature-length film.)
Some who saw the posts as screenshots of them circulated on social media applauded them. Others denounced the posts, with some speculating on the cause. “Ford Motor Company must have been hacked by the Free Palestine movement,” tweeted Rep. Ritchie Torres, a pro-Israel Democrat from New York. Many in his hundreds of comments said they suspected that a Ford employee had forgotten which account was active before tweeting.
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