Evoke Apologizes for Tone-Deaf Social Media Comment about Exploding Pagers

Following the pager explosions in Lebanon, Evoke’s Israeli social media account posted a very questionable vacancies advert.

The Exploding Pagers and Walkie-Talkies Hurt Thousands of People

Several days ago, thousands of handheld pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Lebanese organization Hezbollah exploded. The incident had been set up by Israeli intelligence, which intercepted the shipment of the devices and rigged them with explosive material in an attack against Lebanon and Syria.

The attacks caused the deaths of a few dozen people and left thousands injured.

As the news broke out, many people, as always, poked fun at the grim absurdity of the situation. Users across the internet made memes of the unfortunate event, coping with the tragedy of war via dark humor.

Evoke, however, might have gone a bit too far.

Evoke Apologized for Its “Totally Inacceptable” Comment

Evoke, formerly known as 888 Holdings, recently shared a post on its Israeli Facebook page, poking fun at the pager explosions. The post included a sketch of a machine described by the firm as a “beeper.” According to a report by The Guardian, the now-deleted post included the following caption:

If that’s what they’ve managed to do with beepers, imagine what it’s like to work with technology. Wow. Luckily we are recruiting well.

Evoke statement

The post linked to a webpage advertising job positions at Evoke.

While people generally agree that an ounce of humor in darker times might be alright, they also agree that Evoke had gone too far with its crude comment. It has been deleted since with Evoke releasing an apology and admitting that the post had been “totally unacceptable.” A company spokesperson promised that an internal investigation would be conducted to avoid a similar situation happening again.

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding commented on the matter, saying that the tasteless comment plays into the dehumanization that accompanies such military conflicts. Doyle lamented the situation and said that unless people start respecting each other’s suffering, it will be “really hard to move forward.

In any case, the Gaza conflict remains a highly controversial matter. The polarizing war has, unfortunately, divided many people. While some acknowledge Israel’s right to retaliate and protect its interests, others have slammed the country’s strikes, which have, in certain cases, hurt civilians.