Walmart Foundation donating $1M to Holocaust Memorial Museum amid uptick in antisemitism

Walmart’s philanthropic arm, the Walmart Foundation, pledged to donate $1 million to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as worldwide protests over the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists continue. 

CEO Doug McMillon posted on LinkedIn over the weekend that the donation is a response to the “increase in antisemitic speech and hate crimes” that have emerged after Hamas attacked Israel, inciting a gruesome war that has already claimed thousands of civilian lives on both sides. 

As the death toll climbs, clashes between supporters of Israel and Palestinians expressing their views on the war have broken out around the world. There have also been reports of antisemitic incidents in communities around the world. 

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According to McMillon, the funding will support outreach programs to educate people about the history and lessons of the Holocaust and “the dangers of antisemitism in order to inspire people to confront hate and promote human dignity,” McMillon added. 

The CEO of the nation’s largest retailer simultaneously pleaded for Walmart associates to “keep showing customers and members that we have so much more in common than we do differences.” 

McMillon’s post comes just days after Holocaust survivors gathered at the museum to “commemorate the largest targeted massacre of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust.”

McMillon is one of several executives who have spoken out about the war, which started when Hamas killed hundreds of civilians attending a music festival Oct. 7. Many others who were in their homes and in the street were murdered, while others were kidnapped. 

The Gaza Strip, which is under control by Hamas, has been under siege since then. 

At least 4,200 people have been killed in the war, including at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 30 Americans. Palestinian health authorities say at least 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and more than have been 10,950 wounded. Thirteen American citizens are unaccounted for.