Over $100,000 raised for Burger King employee fired for saying 'Free Palestine'

Over $100,000 in donations has been raised for a Pennsylvania Burger King employee who was was sacked after saying "Free Palestine" to a customer who identified himself as Israeli.

The incident, which was partially caught on camera, occurred when Israeli-American Rami Feinstein visited the fast food restaurant in Breinigsville.

In his account, Feinstein said he was asked by Hamilton where he was from, to which he replied that he was Israeli, prompting the Burger King employee to say "Free Palestine".

In the video, Feinstein can be heard asking the Hamilton to repeat the phrase, which she  does.

After the incident, the Israeli-American posted the footage to social media and questioned whether the fast food chain was a safe place for Jewish customers. 

Burger King later issued a statement saying it was "very sorry" about the experience and that its restaurants are a place "where everyone should feel welcome, respected, and free from discrimination".

"We have no tolerance for antisemitism, hate, or discrimination of any kind. We are working with the franchisee that owns and operates this restaurant to address this situation," the statement continued, appearing to conflate Hamilton's words on Palestine with anti-Jewish rhetoric.

Hamilton, who was fired from her job over the incident, took to social media to give her own account. In the video, Hamilton said that her question was not about the customer's nationality.

“That man did come in very aggressively. I did not ask him where he was from... like, originated from. I asked him where is he from, from the Lehigh Valley. We get a lot of people from a lot of different places: New York, New Jersey,” she said in the video posted to Instagram.

"He did originally say he was from New Jersey, and we stopped it at that, until he took out the Star of David from his shirt and said, 'I'm Israeli. I'm from Israel'. And that is what got me to say ‘Free Palestine,’" she continued.

Hamilton added that she was did not want to be silenced on the matter.

“Absolutely, I wasn't going to back down on "Free Palestine" when he put the camera in my face. That's just not who I am. I will forever speak on my views. Just... and I will never be scared to say what I think.” she said.

Accompanying the post was an appeal by Hamilton for donations to help cover her living costs while out of work.

By the time of publication, the fundraiser had amassed more than $127,000, with supporters on social media urging more support for the former Burger King employee.