Pro-Israel corporations like Starbucks and McDonald's, to name just a few, are in the crosshairs of BDS Movement members who say they want to put "pressure" on these companies for supporting Israel's apartheid and genocide against Gaza.
Further describing Israel as "settler colonialists," members of the BDS Movement are spreading their message across social media, with some even targeting retail locations with vandalism.
In one incident at a McDonald's location in Keighley, West Yorkshire, protesters draped in Palestinian flags entered the building to release stick insects. Video footage of the aftermath showed that several windows also got smashed.
At another McDonald's in Birmingham (U.K.), protesters released mice into the store, followed by calls for a "boycott" against the company – McDonald's in Israel is offering discounts to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and security forces, in essence taking a side in the melee.
(Related: Check out this very long list of traitor politicians and CDC employees who hold dual citizenship both in the United States and Israel – though their true allegiances are obviously to Israel.)
Ben & Jerry's, Sam Smith and many others have boycotted Israel over the years due to mistreatment of Palestinians
As for Starbucks, the BDS Movement is targeting the burnt coffee chain for threatening to sue its labor union for copyright infringement after a "Solidary with Palestine" message was posted on social media using the Starbucks logo.
Founded in 2005, the BDS Movement has seen past successes with such campaigns, including in 2021 when Unilever-owned ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's agreed to stop selling its products in the "occupied Palestinian territories," referring to Israel.
BDS campaigning also convinced Sam Smith to cancel a show in Israel earlier this year, though even organizers claimed this was "due to unforeseeable technical and logistical problems."
In 2010, Elvis Costello cancelled his concerts in Israel for the stated reason that he does not approve of the regime's mistreatment of Palestinians. Lorde did the same thing in 2017 after receiving an "overwhelming number of messages and letters" from pro-Palestinian activists.
One year later in 2018, Lana Del Rey canceled a performance at an Israeli kibbutz because Palestinians would not have been able to watch it.
According to reports, the BDS Movement was founded in 2005 by Palestinian activist Ramy Shaath and Omar Barghouti, a graduate of Columbia University. The group's structure is modeled after the South African resistance movement to apartheid.
The BDS Movement released a guide this week listing companies to boycott, divest from and pressure that it says are "profiting from the genocide of the Palestinian people." They include:
- Amazon
- Airbnb
- Booking.com
- Disney
- Domino's Pizza
- McDonald's
- Papa Johns
- Pizza Hut
- Burger King
- WIX (Israel)
- PUMA
- Carrefour
- RE/MAX
- Ahava
- SodaStream
- Siemens
- AXA
- Hewlett Packard Inc (HP Inc)
- Elbit Systems
- HD Hyundai / Volvo / CAT / JCB
- Barclays
- CAF
- Chevron
- HikVision
- TKH Security
"The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian society that is leading the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, salutes activists, organizations and institutions worldwide that have expressed meaningful solidarity with our urgent struggle to stop Israel's unfolding genocide in Gaza by escalating boycott and divestment campaigns," the BDS Movement says.
"The spreading boycotts of complicit Israeli and multinational corporations can be effective if done strategically. Ending all state, corporate and institutional complicity with Israel's genocidal regime is more urgent than ever. Our lives and livelihoods literally depend on it."
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