Call for FIRST to take action on their unreserved display of double standards
Call for FIRST to take action on their unreserved display of double standards
The Issue
This is an urgent petition seeking the support of all FLL participants worldwide to call out FIRST for their announced stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and recent events.
FIRST have posted a message on their official Facebook account expressing their “deepest condolences to everyone impacted by recent attacks in Israel.” This quickly came to the attention of participating teams worldwide, and the Arab Robotics Association questioned FIRST on whether a similar post was to be set forth for the loss of civilian lives in Palestine.
After 20 days of constant bilateral communication, a meeting was set up with the Heads of the Arab Robotics Association from most participating countries in which the CEO of FIRST attended with five of FIRST’s managers. Shockingly, the outcome of the meeting was the CEO clarifying that his post was meant to merely condole affected persons, and not to take any political sides in this conflict.
The double standards set by this response from a reputable entity like FIRST is nothing short of appalling. The request of the Arab Robotics Association was crystal clear: if you will condole the loss of lives on one side, you should do so for the other side as well. Over 9000 Palestinians have lost their lives in this conflict to date. Most of those who lost their lives were innocent women and children. Human Rights have been violated for over 2 million people in Gaza. And yet, FIRST have failed to express their sympathy for these people, while deliberately taking sides by expressing their condolences to the impacted people of Israel.
We are therefore urging every participating team across the globe to join us in this petition calling FIRST to take immediate corrective action on their unreserved display of double standards in this tormenting conflict.
These are the people we trusted to teach our kids their core values, so how can this be when they themselves have openly betrayed the very values they preach for?
403
The Issue
This is an urgent petition seeking the support of all FLL participants worldwide to call out FIRST for their announced stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and recent events.
FIRST have posted a message on their official Facebook account expressing their “deepest condolences to everyone impacted by recent attacks in Israel.” This quickly came to the attention of participating teams worldwide, and the Arab Robotics Association questioned FIRST on whether a similar post was to be set forth for the loss of civilian lives in Palestine.
After 20 days of constant bilateral communication, a meeting was set up with the Heads of the Arab Robotics Association from most participating countries in which the CEO of FIRST attended with five of FIRST’s managers. Shockingly, the outcome of the meeting was the CEO clarifying that his post was meant to merely condole affected persons, and not to take any political sides in this conflict.
The double standards set by this response from a reputable entity like FIRST is nothing short of appalling. The request of the Arab Robotics Association was crystal clear: if you will condole the loss of lives on one side, you should do so for the other side as well. Over 9000 Palestinians have lost their lives in this conflict to date. Most of those who lost their lives were innocent women and children. Human Rights have been violated for over 2 million people in Gaza. And yet, FIRST have failed to express their sympathy for these people, while deliberately taking sides by expressing their condolences to the impacted people of Israel.
We are therefore urging every participating team across the globe to join us in this petition calling FIRST to take immediate corrective action on their unreserved display of double standards in this tormenting conflict.
These are the people we trusted to teach our kids their core values, so how can this be when they themselves have openly betrayed the very values they preach for?
403
Petition created on November 4, 2023