Kurush Mistry Commodities trader/Oil analyst at Freepoint Commodities fired after caught on video with partner, Shailja Gupta vandalising posters of kidnapped Hamas hostages as Indian couple become target of social media outrage.
A NY area commodities trader has been fired after video showed him and his partner vandalizing posters of kidnapped hostages by Hamas during the militant group’s attack in Israel on October 7.
Kurush Mistry was sacked by the Stamford, Connecticut -based firm Freepoint Commodities as a result of the video, which was filmed on Nov 9 on the corner of NYC‘s 68th Street and Riverside Drive on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
The footage showed Mistry and his cohort, Shailja Gupta, wrapping tape around the posters to hide them as they showered the person filming them with foul-mouthed antisemitic abuse along with obscene gestures.
.@kurushmistry is a #Nazi, here in the US on a work visa. pic.twitter.com/a4EG8R25jQ
— Irka (@IrkaLive) November 11, 2023
‘I’m very proud, very proud….’
Mistry had been employed by Freepoint for nine years, according to the Financial Times. Previously, he worked for leading banks Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Lehman Brothers.
In a statement confirming Mistry’s dismissal, Freepoint said it was ‘aware of the recent antisemitic incident reported on social media, and the individual involved is no longer associated with Freepoint.’
Added the former employer: ‘We welcome the diversity of views and opinions held by our employees, but Freepoint does not tolerate discrimination and hate speech directed against any group.’
In the video, both Mistry and Gupta show no remorse while screaming abuse at the Jewish man who filmed them.
When Mistry was asked why he was vandalizing the posters, he responded by displaying his middle finger to the camera, while Gupta — who describes herself on LinkedIn as a ‘visual artist, film-maker and emerging tech strategic consultant’— tells the Jewish man, ‘none of your f—ing business dude, f—off.’
Asked by the person filming the incident, an American Jewish man, if he is proud of himself, Mistry responds, ‘very proud, very proud!’
‘you don’t want my country to exist, so where should I go?’
Mistry then taunted the man by waving a poster he pulled from his bag that described Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ carrying out a ‘genocide.’ Both Mistry and Gupta are heard telling the man that he should ‘go back to your country, go back to Israel.’ When the man replied that he was an American, Gupta retorts that she was ‘also a f—ing American, darling.’
When the man pointed out that ‘you don’t want my country to exist, so where should I go?’ Gupta tells him, ‘you don’t want my f—ing country to exist.’ Asked what country she was referring to, Gupta — who like Mistry is an Indian-American — emphatically answered ‘Palestine.’
When the man said he hadn’t heard of ‘that country,’ Gupta calls him a ‘f—ing uneducated prick.’ She then begins laughing hysterically, asking rhetorically, ‘does he even know who is my Dad?’ along with accusing Jews of being ‘rapists.’
‘I’ve already proved it,’ Gupta said, when challenged. ‘My papers have been published all over.’ It was not clear which ‘papers’ the woman was referring to, or which journals have published Gupta’s writings.
Brands and employers distancing themselves from increased polarization of issues
Commenting on the incident on on X/Twitter, Sonam Mahajan, an Indian-American political analyst, said she wanted to assure her, ‘Jewish friends that Ms. Gupta does not speak for the vast majority of Hindus. She is a vile person who also frequently makes disparaging remarks about Hindus, targeting their religious beliefs.’
The incident comes in the backdrop off increased rhetoric between opposing sides of the Israel and Hamas conflict amid the latest civilian deaths of 12,000 in Gaza following Israel’s response to the October 7 attack.
The issue which has the potential to tarnish and embroil brands and employers, continues to engage heightened polarized responses, accusations of anti-semitism, hate speech and even acts of vandalism, with a number of individuals since filmed ripping off images of Israeli hostages on lamp-posts in the United States.
Actions which are often captured and shared on social media and often leading to calls for said participant’s dropping of contract, termination, barring, being put on a no hiring list or cancellation.
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