As the latest Israeli war on the Gaza Strip continues, there is a growing chorus of Arab and international calls to intensify economic, cultural and academic boycotts. The main objective is to encourage global companies to withdraw their support for the occupying state and disengage from direct and indirect involvement in the aggression on Gaza and other Palestinian territories.
The Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement is at the forefront of campaigns that advocate for ending all dealings with Israel. This includes boycotting both Israeli companies and global entities complicit in violating the rights of Palestinians. The campaigns also extend to boycotting Israeli sports, cultural, and academic institutions and activities. The overarching goal is to exert pressure on investors and contractors associated with Israeli and international companies involved in the crimes of the occupying state, urging them to terminate their contracts with these companies and entities.
Investors or contractors might be individuals, institutions, banks, local councils, private parties, charitable organizations, or universities.
In response to the latest aggression on the Gaza Strip, the BDS movement initiated a protest to cease all dealings with companies supporting the Israeli occupation. This effort, documented on the official Facebook page of BDS movement, includes statements from several companies supporting the occupation army. Additionally, a campaign has been launched to boycott these brands.
What is BDS?
BDS is a movement founded in 2005 when 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations launched a campaign calling for an end to the Israeli occupation.
BDS has achieved numerous successful initiatives, including divestment and sanctions through boycott calls and campaigns in various fields, including culture. The movement has successfully prompted the cancellation of many concerts and events due to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. In 2017, New Zealand artist Lorde was scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv but ended up canceling the show following boycott calls.
On the business front, several companies have been affected by boycott campaigns, including French company Veolia, the first international venture to completely exit the Israeli market in 2015 under pressure from a boycotting campaign. This was due to its role in Israeli violations of human rights and international law.
According to a BDS report, the boycott lasted for seven years and cost the company over $20 billion in global losses.
In response to the losses inflicted by the movement, Israel and some of its Western allies are now seeking to introduce laws to punish BDS.
In 2017, Israel adopted a law prohibiting anyone who supports calls to boycott Israel from entering the country. This law grants the Israeli Interior Ministry the authority to refuse entry visas and residence permits to those actively engaged in campaigns to boycott Israel.
Carrefour Boycott
Since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, many companies swiftly declared their support for Israel, and among the earliest was the French group “Carrefour.”
As revealed by photos shared by BDS, Carrefour distributed bags filled with food products to Israeli soldiers.
While BDS France had criticized this initiative, considering it to be a violation of Palestinian rights, calls to boycott the company quickly spread on social media under the hashtag #BoycottCarrefour.
The Carrefour group previously signed a new franchise agreement in Israel on March 8, 2022, with the Israeli company Electra Consumer Products and its subsidiary Yenot Bitan.
The agreement aims to open Carrefour-branded stores in the occupied Palestinian territories by the end of 2022. All 150 Yenot Bitan stores, including 3 in illegal settlements, would have the ability to sell Carrefour products.
Elco Group
The Elco group, the parent company of Electra Consumer Products, is listed among the companies involved, either directly or through subsidiaries, in activities inside settlements which are illegal under international law.
McDonald’s
The McDonald’s group was accused of participating in the war on Gaza due to its Israeli branch announcing that it is providing free meals to Israeli soldiers in hospitals.
McDonald's is one of the most famous brands in the United States, is experiencing boycott campaigns in several countries due to its perceived support for occupation soldiers.
On October 10, the official Facebook page of the Israeli branch of Burger King also published photos of free meals being distributed to Israeli occupation soldiers, stating in Hebrew, “We came out to strengthen the nation. Our teams are working hard in order to continue providing thousands of meals to our heroes. Burger King addresses its condolences to the families of victims."
Late, the McDonald’s corporation clarified that the decision to provide meals to the Israeli army was an action “from our local business partners" and was made independently, without McDonald’s consent or approval."
Domino’s Pizza
On October 10, the Domino’s Pizza company expressed its solidarity with the Israeli occupation army through a video where the Israeli flag is visible, accompanied by a comment in Hebrew saying “who can defeat us?”
Amazon
Amazon, the American online business company expressed solidarity with Israel and full support for the Israeli occupation army during the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
In a post on the X social media platform on October 10, Amazon's president Andy Jassy described the attacks in Israel as 'shocking and painful to watch.
The Israel Boycott Campaign Focuses on Specific Brands
Social media users around the world quickly shared brands to boycott and their alternatives in local markets. This included calls to boycott the U.S. coffee shop franchise Starbucks, following the company’s lawsuit against its employee union, which expressed support for the Palestinian cause in light of the violent Israeli bombings on the Gaza strip.
The influential BDS website, however, called for targeting the companies that most strongly support the Israeli occupation, including:
Chevron
Chevron is an American multinational company specializing in energy. According to BDS, it bankrolls the apartheid system and the Israeli settler occupation through paying billions of dollars in exchange for gas extraction contracts.
Through its extractivist activities, Chevron is also considered complicit in the Israeli apartheid practices, including depriving the Palestinian people of their right to sovereignty over their natural resources through the illegal blockade on Gaza and on its sea waters.
Chevron is additionally involved in illegal transportation of the extracted fossil gas to Egypt via a pipeline that illegally crosses the purely Palestinian economic zone in Gaza. The company owes Palestinians millions of dollars in transit fees. According to the movement, it is also probable that Chevron is involved in the Israeli looting of Palestinian gas reserves off the occupied Gaza shore, constituting a war crime under international law.
Axa Insurance Company
According to a BDS report, Axa is among the companies targeted by boycotts in 2015, under the slogan “Axa must stop helping the Israeli racial segregation." This is due to its investments in Israeli banks which are deeply involved in the Israeli illegal settlements projects on Palestinian territories.
According to a 2019 report by American business monitoring organization SumOfUs, the French insurance giant Axa was revealed to have invested over $91 million in the five largest Israeli banks, as well as the biggest private Israeli arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems. These companies are directly involved in the Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people.
HP
The BDS boycott campaign also targets companies bearing the HP brand, as these companies actively participate in the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people.
Companies affiliated with the HP brand provide technology that Israel uses to continue the occupation and settler colonialism against the Palestinian people.
These companies provide computer gear to the Israeli army and operate data centers for the Israeli police.
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