According to reports, the backlash began when Adly Al-Qiai, head of the club's soccer company, insisted in a video that supporters buy club items with the Coca-Cola brand and other sponsors. A source in the the Al Ahly's media office, who asked not to be named, claimed that the deal between the sports club and the soft drink giant was signed before the current Israeli war and any cancellation on the part of the club would result in penalties.
The beverage company has long been caught in the crossfire of conflicts in the Middle East. For instance, Coca-Cola was officially boycotted by the Arab League from 1967 to 1991 for building a bottling plant in Israel.
Meanwhile, Palestinian supporters were quick to resort to social media in their reaction to Coke's "support" for Israel. They called for a boycott of the team, its games and all associated activities following the circulation of images of the club's players and logo on Coca-Cola cans. They said they would support it again after the club's contracts with the soft drink firm are terminated.
"I will permanently stop supporting #Al-Ahly and associated sponsors… My [Gaza] brothers are more important to me than you," one fan posted on X. Another user said: "We stay silent when children fall asleep, not when they are being killed."
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Al-Qiai seems unperturbed amid these calls. "This is a targeted campaign and I know who's behind it… I won't listen to these criticisms. Al Ahly doesn't need to defend itself because it's a patriotic club that sticks with the state," Al-Qiai said.
He added that Coca-Cola continues to be one of the club's primary sponsors. The value of the contract with the soft drink company has not been disclosed. The sports club has a big fan base in Gaza, which is only 348 kilometers (216 miles) away from the club's headquarters in Cairo. The club is the most successful in Egypt and Africa and has this year won its 11th Africa Champions title and 43rd Egyptian Premiere League title. It has also recently been voted Africa's Club of the Century.
Another company caught in the middle of the calls for a boycott is Starbucks. CEO Laxman Narasimhan said that the coffee chain saw a "significant impact on traffic and sales" in the Middle East due to the war in Gaza. Sales also slowed in the U.S. as protesters campaign against the Seattle-based company, calling for it to take a stand against Israel.
McDonald's was also slammed by Israel’s critics when its Israel branch gave thousands of free meals to Israeli troops in October. The fast food giant's growth target for sales in the Middle East, India and China was set at 5.5 percent from October to December, but it achieved only 0.7 percent growth during that period. (Related: Turkish parliament boycotts Coke, Nestle products over the companies’ alleged support for Israel.
Pro-Palestinian app determines which product to boycott for supporting Israel
An app created to help consumers determine which products and brands to boycott due to their support for Israel has gained the attention of TikTok followers.
The free app called "No Thanks" was launched by a Palestinian graduate student named Ahmed Bashbash last November. Within a month of launching it was downloaded over 100,000 times. Reports indicate that over a million people had already downloaded the app by April. Millions of users had also viewed TikTok influencer videos promoting the viral app, and this contributed to the app's growth of 900,000 downloads in just four months.
"I trust that supporters of the 'No Thanks' app, which urges the boycott of Netflix and Apple, will soon be turning off their TVs and disposing of their iPhones," said Cary Nelson, former president of the American Association of University Professors and an expert on the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement. "Meanwhile, supporters of 'No Thanks' can triumphantly find a non-Israeli brand of hummus. The rest of us can buy 'No Thanks' brands."
Soon after the app was launched, Google banned the app from its virtual store for advertising itself as a tool to "see if the product in your hand supports killing children in Palestine."
Visit IsraelCollapse.com for updates on the continued genocidal attacks of Israel on the Palestinian people.
Watch the video below on anti-Israel protests breaking out in more states.
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