Paddy, I saw you walking last night approaching 10 pm. You were alone in your thoughts and you must have been reeling from the coverage in the Irish media that we so love in Ireland, with every interpretation spun but at the end of the day, it is the old adage, kick a man when he is down. I hope this article has the brevity and being Israeli (AFP and Times of Israel) coverage, maybe we can level the playing field with a degree of equity. We all know about Tweets and the heat of the moment. We are warned constantly. You set up the Web Summit, Ireland through some kind of dose of the little green monster jealously, lost it to Portugal. Remain stoic Paddy Cosgrave. Tweets should not destroy a career of an innovator to action and mass success. To people who have Netflix, I would ask you to watch Gaza, the children, the bombings and this is after the armed engagements ending 2014. Shame on the world who have closed their eyes to the children of Gaza.

Posted on October 23, 2023 by michelleclarke2015

Tech summit organizer quits following backlash for accusing Israel of war crimes

Paddy Cosgrave says his ‘personal comments have become a distraction from the event,’ again apologizes after Meta, Google and others boycott Web Summit

By AFP and TOI STAFF22 October 2023, 5:47 am  

LISBON, Portugal — The organizer of the Web Summit, one of the tech sector’s leading events, announced his resignation Saturday following a backlash over his online posts following the devastating Hamas assault on Israel.

“Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the event,” Paddy Cosgrave of Ireland explained in a brief statement sent to AFP.

“I sincerely apologize again for any hurt I have caused,” added the co-founder of the tech mega gathering created in 2009 in Dublin but held in Lisbon since 2016.

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A spokesperson for the organization said: “Web Summit will appoint a new CEO as soon as possible, and Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon will go ahead as planned.”

This year’s edition from November 13 to 16, is set to bring together some 2,300 startups and more than 70,000 participants, say organizers.

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Several companies, including tech giants Google and Meta, which is behind Facebook and Instagram, as well as event headliners have announced they are boycotting the gathering since Cosgrave’s remarks.

He had written on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments” in support of Israel.

“War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are,” he wrote on October 13.

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The boycott by Meta and Google followed other exits by companies and tech figures, including Intel, Siemens and US comedian Amy Poehler and X-Files actor Gillian Anderson.

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan is displayed on screens as she answers questions after addressing the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Portugal, November 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Some 2,500 Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip stormed into Israel by land, air and sea on October 7, killing some 1,400 people and seizing 200-250 hostages of all ages under the cover of massive rocket fire at Israeli towns and communities. The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians — men, women, children and the elderly, with entire families executed in their homes and over 260 slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza says over 4,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the Hamas onslaught. The figures issued by the terror group cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include its own fighters and the victims of a blast at a Gaza City hospital on October 17 caused by an Islamic Jihad missile misfire that Hamas has blamed on Israel.

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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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