Boycott US and Israel brands for Palestine

By Nur Fatimah Azzahra Md Nor

Have you ever wondered how Israel has more than enough funds to buy weapons in order to fight against the Palestinians? There must be groups of people who are supporting Israel in the ongoing war. 

In this case, most of the Israeli funds are from the United States. According to Al Jazeera news on 3 November 2023, the United States House of Representatives had provided USD14.5bn of military aid for Israel. With this, Israel will get more powerful weapons such as air-defence missiles, small-diameter bombs, and the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), mentioned Time USA. The Human Rights Watch also said that they used white phosphorus, which showed that they had committed a war crime as they continued to attack helpless Palestinians.

Unlike the Israeli military, Palestinians do not have such weapons to fight them back, although the Western media propagates that Hamas militants have fired more rockets at Israel. Palestinians solely depend on the Hamas militants to protect themselves. 

This is when boycotting Israel and United States-based products comes in handy. As the Israeli economy mostly depends on international trade and investment, it is best for us to stop buying their products to show support to Palestine. First and foremost, it is crucial to know what to boycott. Cambridge Dictionary defines boycott as the action of refusal to buy a product or being part of an activity to express strong disapproval. 

The list of products that support Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians were brought up by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Palestinian-led movement. Boycotting helps to put pressure on the Israel government as it will find it harder to export its goods.

The pressure is needed for them to abide by international laws related to war as well as end its apartheid practices. BDS aims to encourage people to boycott Israeli brands so as to achieve the maximum impact in the hope Israel will stop torturing Palestinians. The brands are Hewlett Packard (HP), Puma, AXA, Israeli Fruit and Vegetables, SodaStream, Ahava, Sabra, and Siemens. 

Other than the brands mentioned on the BDS movement’s official website, there are more brands to boycott as their profits also finance the Israeli military and government. Starbucks, McDonald’s, Disney, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Amazon, Coca-Cola are other brands that need to be boycotted. 

Here in Malaysia, it can be seen that the campaign of boycotting is starting to show its effects. Malaysians have expressed their concerns and support of Palestine through their boycotting actions. Many have reported on social media that most branches of Starbucks and McDonald’s either have few foreigners or are vacant. This is far from the usual where nearly all branches are packed with people, especially on weekends. What is more surprising, the stocks of Starbucks Corp have also drastically dropped recently, as reported by MarketWatch. 

It is also important to note the reasons behind boycotting those products. HP runs the biometric ID system for Israelis to restrain the movement of Palestinians while AXA, the well-known insurance policy company, invests its profits in Israeli banks. Puma put up the money for the Israel Football Association and Israeli fruits and vegetables are labelled as “Produce in Israel” when the truth is all of them were stolen from the lands of the Palestinians. 

Undeniably, these products do assist the economy as well as the movement of Israel in their war efforts. In the latest news, an Israeli minister openly suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza. This exposes that Israel owns nuclear weapons and there is the probability of it using the deadly weapons to threaten Palestinians who are currently confined by Israelis. 

Therefore, boycotting the brands that support the United States and Israel indeed creates a significant move in showing solidarity with Palestine. The number of pro-Israel brands keeps on updating every day. As Muslims, we have to be aware of products that fund the military of Israel and put a stop to their sale. ***