Young people lead boycott of global firms in support of Palestine: ‘I don’t want to spend my money on brands that sponsor war’

It is a calm and quiet night at the McDonald’s franchise embedded in the pedestrian artery of Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Turkey. Aima Tahir, a student living in the city, is one of thousands of Turks who avoided eating at McDonald’s during the first two weeks of the war in Gaza. “We are all hoping that the boycott will have an impact on stopping the genocide, and even if it doesn’t, I personally don’t want to spend my money on brands that sponsor war.” In addition to maintaining their boycott of multinationals with a presence in Israel, Aima and her friends donated several head of cattle and goats to Gaza during the Eid al-Adha holiday last June. This trend is on the rise in Turkey and other countries in the region, where 60% of the 1,752 consumers surveyed by the state-run Areda Surveys agency say they have stopped buying Israel-related products.

This movement is not unique to Turkey. From New York to Jakarta, thousands of young people are expressing their solidarity with pro-Palestinian movements by boycotting companies with alleged ties to Israel in response to the continuing conflict in Gaza. Ten months since the start of the Israeli invasion of the Strip, the impact of the veto is already being felt in some Starbucks coffee shops and McDonald’s restaurants.

Companies targeted by activist organizations and frequently cited on boycott lists include McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, Coca-Cola, and KFC, although the brands tend to vary from country to country. European companies are also included on these boycott lists, although they suffer to a lesser extent. Among them are the French supermarket chain Carrefour, the German technology company Siemens, and the French insurer Axa, which this week withdrew its investments from Israeli banks.

Consumer boycotts of brands are becoming increasingly popular. A survey of 18,103 people worldwide by the consultancy YouGov found that Indonesians are the most likely to boycott a brand for geopolitical reasons, with 53% of the total, followed by Denmark (52%), Sweden (49%), the UK (47%) and Australia (44%).

The boycott of large multinationals with ties to Israel has spread most notably in Middle Eastern countries, where some consumers responded last October to appeals from Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS), a pro-Palestinian organization whose main motive was to push for trade sanctions against multinationals with operations in Israel. The organization, which has been staging such campaigns for over two decades, has risen to prominence in recent months through calls to boycott large U.S. companies with a presence in Israel through its social networks. It has moved its campaigns to North America, Asia, and other markets. BDS and its Spanish delegation declined to participate in this report and have not provided comment to this newspaper’s questions.

“An affordable first step”

Aima joined the BDS-driven boycott in the first two weeks of the war. Since then, she only supports local businesses and does not plan to go back to purchasing from the big global chains, although she recognizes that the move is largely symbolic. The young student has also stopped buying Coca-Cola products and has opted to drink alternatives such as ‘Le Cola’ at one of the 11,203 franchises of BIM — a discount supermarket chain — scattered around Turkey.

On the other side of the world, in Vancouver, Canada, another 23-year-old, who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions at her job, joined the boycott of companies like Pizza Hut, Walmart, and Domino’s as “an affordable first step” in January 2024, although she doesn’t believe it was enough to make a noticeable difference. “I think a lot of people are looking for ways to help, but they feel like they’re falling short.” In Toronto, Katrina Ghali, 24, has gone from being a daily customer at Starbucks to boycotting it as of November 2023. “I used to go every day, but then I found out they were supporting the Israeli state” she says.

Sales plummet

McDonald’s is among the most-affected companies hit by political boycotts. The fast-food giant has been criticized for allegedly offering discounts and about 100,000 free meals to the Israeli army. It has plunged 3% on the stock market since 2023. Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s CEO, acknowledged in early May that the war has had a negative impact on its business in the Middle East, among other markets. Through a LinkedIn post he dismissed the move as “disheartening and ill-founded.” This drop in sales led Alonyal, the brand’s Israeli subsidiary, to declare its intention to sell 225 of its franchises to the parent company.

“In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald’s is proudly represented by local owner operators who work tirelessly to serve and support their communities while employing thousands of their fellow citizens,” Kempczinski said. In Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, McDonald’s sued BDS for $1.3 million in January and explained that although they respect the act of boycotting, they believe that “it should be based on facts and not allegations.”

Perhaps the multinational company most punished by the boycott is U.S. coffee chain Starbucks, although the trigger in this case was not calls by activist groups but a lawsuit against its union, Workers United. The lawsuit arose after the union expressed its solidarity with Palestine on social media platform X. Starbucks, in addition to noticing a drop in its profitability in the second quarter of the year, with global sales down 4%, also lost up to 27% of its share price on the U.S. stock market in May.

The firm’s former CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, insisted that “Starbucks is pro-humanity” and that the company does not have “a political agenda.” Narasimhan, in charge of the chain for just one year, was replaced a week ago by Brian Niccol, the former CEO of the Tex-Mex fast food chain Chipotle. Niccol’s strategic hiring has reduced the company’s stock market losses over the past year to just 3%.

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