Recently, there’s been a noticeable shift in public opinion when it comes to Israel and Palestine. Reuters conducted a survey in early October that found that 41% of respondents thought the U.S. should support Israel. A month later, this number had dropped to only 32%. The numbers vary from source to source; a PBS poll found that most Americans still support Israel. But this survey showed a similar pattern: that a growing percentage of Americans think Israel’s actions aren’t justified.
As many Americans are changing their mind about the issue, these sentiments are not reflected in the actions of our politicians, celebrities, and companies.
Credit: The Hawkeye
Most notably, activists have identified hundreds of brands that are supporting Israel in some way or another. The list is seemingly endless: Adidas, American Eagle, Amazon, Bath & Body Works, Ben & Jerry’s, Burger King, Chanel, Dasani, Dove, Febreze, Hyundai, KFC, Lay’s, MAC, Pepsi, Puma, Purina, Sephora, Taco Bell, Tim Hortons, Tide, Unicef, Walmart, and many, many more. A full list of brands is available here.
You can also look at the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) website, a movement that has created a more targeted list. Their list includes brands like SodaStream, which has been criticized for racism towards Palestinian employees. Hewlett Packard Inc., which services the Israeli government including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
BDS has also organized its list into sections. The movement is asking people to participate in a complete boycott of eight brands: Siemens, Puma, Carrefour, AXA, Hewlett Packard, SodaStream, Ahava, and RE/MAX, additionally, it calls for a boycott on Israeli produce, much of which is grown in Israeli settlements. The next tier is the brands the movement has highlighted for divestment because of their support to Israel (for example, Chevron) and the third is companies that shouldn’t be boycotted but instead pressured to change their stance (Google, Amazon, and Disney, etc.). The final tier includes companies like McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Papa John’s. BDS supports the boycotting of those brands but did not initiate those movements.
McDonald’s is one of the brands that has been criticized the most. They received backlash for giving thousands of free meals to Israeli soldiers and, on top of that, announced that they would give all members of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) a 50% off deal in a (now deleted) Twitter post.
Credit: AA
Coca-Cola and Pepsico are also supporters of Israel. While Pepsico has sent millions to Israeli organizations, Coca-Cola has given supplies to the IDF and runs a factory in the West Bank. Coca-Cola and Pepsico own a wide array of brands including Fanta, Sprite, Gatorade, Starbucks, and even Quaker Oats.
Disney has been criticized for donating $2 million in aid to Israel while giving nothing to Palestine. Paramount+ faced similar backlash after giving $1 million to Israel. If you decide to boycott these brands, keep in mind that Disney owns other streaming and broadcasting sites such as Hulu, ABC, and ESPN and Paramount owns Nickelodeon, MTV, CBS, and more.
Finally, let’s talk about the boycott you’ve probably been hearing the most about: Starbucks. The boycotts started when a Starbucks union in Iowa made a post showing support for Palestine, and the company responded by suing them.
These boycotts are having a noticeable impact. The Starbucks boycott is one of the ones that is having the most success. Recently, the company has lost a whopping $11 billion (9.4% of its value) in part due to the boycott. It’s easy to see this change at school. Just a few months ago, it was common to see dozens of people going to their first classes with the distinctive cup in hand. But now, its a rare sight. Starbucks is set to permanently leave Morocco, a country where pro-Palestine support is extremely high. It’s not the only brand that’s been affected. H&M is also leaving Morocco after boycotts, and in Turkey, the country’s parliament has withdrawn Coca-Cola and Nestle products from restaurants.
There are also some companies that are supporting Palestine, including ANZ Clothing, MZ Skin, Haute Hijab, and Huda Beauty.
Just as boycotts in the past have been extremely successful, the boycotts happening right now are already causing change. As consumers, you have the power to choose where our money goes, and this has a big impact.