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Uzone.id – The genocide committed by Israel against Palestine has succeeded in attracting the sympathy of the world community. As a form of protest, thousands of people from all over the world have started a boycott of pro-Israel products and those affiliated with the country or the BDS Movement.
BDS Movement or Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law, source from bdsmovement.net.
This campaign uses social media as the primary weapon to support Palestine and pressure the Israeli movement and its supporters. The use of hashtags on the X platform and reposting posts on the Instagram platform are among the efforts of the BDS Movement.
Boycotting a product can have a big impact if it is done regularly and massively. For example, it can decrease product sales from the companies involved, decrease shares, and impact the local economy because most of the products that are boycotted are products from big brands.
What’s the impact so far?
The BDS Movement was inspired by the South African Apartheid movement that succeeded in bringing down the regime that was in power at that time. Of course, the BDS Movement must be carried out proportionally so as not to turn around and harm the local economy.
One of the famous brands that was immediately boycotted massively was McDonald’s. Last year, on November 7, the Israeli branch of McDonald’s sent free food packages to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Immediately, social media users were busy voicing boycott actions.
Although not immediately felt, the boycott action voiced on social media has a significant impact. Especially on public figures or celebrities who openly support Israel.
The most famous example is what happened to Gal Gadot. The Israeli celebrity openly supported her country, even asking for donations. However, instead of getting a positive response, social media users criticized her.
Most recently, Laxman Narasimhan as CEO of Starbucks, was also reported to have resigned from his position. The CEO officially resigned amid the decline in sales of the global coffee shop chain due to the boycott movement of Israeli-affiliated products.
It is known that sales of this chain fell 3% globally in outlets that had been open for at least one year, including a 2% decline in the North US market.
Impact of boycott in Middle Eastern countries
This boycott action also reduced American International’s revenue, which fell by 52% in the first quarter of 2024. American International is a management company that manages fast food products such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Krispy Kreme in the Middle East, North Africa, and Kazakhstan.
In several cities in Jordan, fast-food restaurants such as KFC and McDonald’s are very quiet. Coca-Cola and Nestle products are piling up in stores because they are not selling. Carrefour decided to close 10 of its branches in the country. This shows that the impact of the boycott action against Israel in Jordan is huge.
Similar to Jordan, in Egypt, McDonald’s sales fell by 60%. KFC even reduced its production due to the impact of the boycott movement. Meanwhile, this boycott action was also quite effective in Morocco and Kuwait. The lack of visitors to fast food restaurants and Starbucks coffee shops there proves this.
So, how long will this boycott last? It is still ongoing. Middle East Eye (MEE) reported that there is no sign of the country’s boycott movement ending since last year. It seems that this movement will continue until the next quarter. Or, this boycott action will continue until Palestine gains its independence.
