Boycott
McDonalds, Starbucks, others admit Gaza boycott hitting profits
Firms admit losses or even cut ties with Israel
The chief executives of food chains McDonalds and Starbucks have admitted that the global boycott of their stores and products because of the firms’ support for Israel is hitting their profits. McDonalds in Israel provided free meals to Israeli soldiers participating in Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians, while Starbucks has sued a union representing some Starbucks workers – the firm has engaged in union-busting efforts – for a post on the union’s social media account expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Other firms have suffered similarly and have even cut ties with Israel because of widespread grassroots anger over the genocide in Gaza. Swiss-based shipping firm Kuehne & Nagel has ceased transporting materials for Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems and Japanese giant Itochu has announced it will end all collaboration with the same Israeli firm by the end of this month, citing the International Court of Justice’s damning findings against Israel last month in the case brought by South Africa.
January also saw controversy in Ireland after Dublin airport closed its Starbucks but continued to sell the firm’s products under a different brand.
The longstanding ‘boycott, divestment and sanctions’ (BDS) campaign of peaceful resistance to Israel’s apartheid and illegal occupation rattles Israel to such an extent that it set up a specific government department to combat and discredit it. Now, with the Houthi blockade of Israel-bound shipping hitting Israel’s economy, BDS is biting even deeper.
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Dutton Demands An Officeworks Boycott As They Don’t Stock Mr Potato Head Pencil Cases
The Opposition’s perpetually outraged leader, Peter Dutton, has demanded a nation wide boycott of stationery supplier Officeworks after discovering that they did not stock Mr Potato Head branded pencil cases.
”This is an outrageous attack on ordinary, everyday working Australians,” said the Opposition leader. ”That a man can’t go down to Officeworks to do some back to parliament shopping with his wife and get his desired pencil case is appalling.”
”I notice the Prime Minister is tellingly silent over all of this.”
When asked if he seriously believed that businesses should stock whatever the Opposition leader believed they should stock despite low sales, the member for Dickson said: ”Absolutely, businesses should not bow down to the inner-city leftist woke elites.”
”Instead, they should bow down to the boycotting anti-woke right.”
”When I come to power I will be a benevolent dictator who believes in free markets.”
”Markets that are free to do as I demand.”
”Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a stressful day so I’m off to the dog park to strangle a few puppies.”
Mark Williamson
@MWChatShow
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Activists labelling Israeli supermarket items as ‘apartheid’ and ‘apartheid Starmer’
Hum(our)ous and deadly serious
Activists have begun labelling Israeli items in supermarkets as ‘apartheid’ products, in a campaign to raise public awareness of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians and promote the peaceful ‘BDS’ (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement to pressure Israel into ending its apartheid and war crimes – with different versions laid out to match (at least) Sainsburys and Tesco label layouts:
And Keir Starmer has also made himself a target of the campaign for his unstinting support of Israel’s flagrant breaches of international law, after at least one group took the original labels and edited them to reflect his ties to and funding from right-wing and pro-Israel groups and figures, before applying them liberally to supermarket shelves:
The global BDS campaign’s effectiveness can be seen in the fact that Israel created a whole ‘Ministry of Strategic Affairs’ to combat it and the way that Israel’s supporters constantly attack it. The UK government is in the process of passing probably-unlawful legislation to ban local authorities from applying BDS against goods and services from illegally-occupied territories.
The campaign has also been deployed against global brands such as Starbucks and McDonalds, with reportedly substantial impact on their profits.
Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza has so far killed at least 33,000 civilians, mostly women and children, and wounded more than twice that number of people – often with life-changing injuries. The country is facing a genocide case brought against it before the International Court of Justice by South Africa.
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Cambridge Analytica-linked firm running NHS data signs deal to help Israel against Gaza
CEO signs ‘strategic’ battlefield AI deal, flies board to Israel in ‘show of solidarity’ in middle of genocide
Palantir – the firm linked to Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data and with close ties to Israel but still awarded a £330m contract, in the middle of the Gaza genocide – to process sensitive NHS patient data despite protests from doctors and civil liberties groups – has signed a ‘strategic’ deal to provide ‘battlefield AI’ and other ‘battle tech’ to Israel, according to Bloomberg:
Israel is currently engaged in mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians Gaza that has killed more than 30,000 civilians, mostly women and children, is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice brought against it by South Africa and has been accused of multiple other war crimes against the people of Gaza, including forcible transfer of the population and the targeting of hospitals, schools, journalists, homes and civilian infrastructure.
Despite this, the firm’s CEO last week flew the company’s board to Israel in a ‘show of solidarity’ with the regime:
The firm seems curiously reticent about its close ties with the Israeli regime, however. It’s press release page, which contains announcements going back to 2018, does not mention Israel.
Palantir’s activities have been so troubling that even the Murdoch Times has asked whether the UK government is “handing our health data to Big Brother”.
The Palantir deal is not the only example of the UK government promoting and rewarding companies with close ties to Israel during the Gaza genocide. Sunak’s crew has also awarded cash to UK universities, as the world clamours for an academic boycott, to promote closer ties with Israeli universities.
The UK Establishment clearly values cash and commerce above the lives of Palestinian civilians, above justice and above peace.
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Exclusive: Dublin airport rebrands Starbucks cafe – but still selling Starbucks products
Airport says Starbucks sales are a ‘temporary’ measure as critics point to boycott over Gaza and firm’s conduct toward unions
A ‘new’ cafe in Dublin airport’s Terminal 1 is still selling Starbucks products under a different brand name, Skwawkbox can reveal.
The airport announced the opening of its new ‘Vista’ cafe on Thursday in what is said was a unit ‘previously occupied by Starbucks:
But critics were quick to link the announcement to the boycott of Starbucks by many in response to the firm’s links to Israel and its ongoing anti-union activities in the US, with hundreds of responses like the examples below:
I think this is still Starbucks they've just rebranded the name of the café to try and avoid the ongoing boycott. If you zoom in you can see the Starbucks menu, plus they're still using Starbucks cups! There's also zero online presence for "Vista Coffee" – it doesn't exist!
— James M (@MamesJolloy) January 4, 2024
Why is there what looks like a @Starbucks logo in the corner of the left hand screen?
Can you clarify whether this is a rebranding of the existing outlet or has the new one stolen Starbuck's property?
Hope you can clarify; I'm sure you don't want to be associated with theft. pic.twitter.com/xipWJA1eTm— Brian (@LifeOfBOS) January 5, 2024
Starbucks has seen its share price hit since the boycott on sales, despite the company CEO issuing a statement that Starbucks ‘condemns violence, hate, lies and weaponised speech – he did not mention Israel or Gaza in the statement – and that Starbucks ‘stand[s] for humanity’.
Starbucks in the US has been engaged in a long campaign against unionisation by workers that saw leaked video in 2022 show the firm’s founder begging store managers to step up their anti-union activities – and the firm suing the union for trademark infringement. Boycott calls grew after a post went out on the Starbucks Workers Union official Twitter account posted a message of solidarity with Palestine after the widely-misrepresented Hamas raid last October and Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza that has killed over 30,000 civilians, more than two thirds of them children and women. Starbucks share price has fallen by around seven percent since the boycott. It is not the only global brand to see profits fall – McDonalds’ CEO has admitted that the business has taken a ‘meaningful’ hit.
A spokesperson for Dublin airport confirmed that the Vista cafe is using Starbucks products, but told Skwawkbox that both the brand and the product usage were temporary and that the Starbucks cafe closed because its contract had run out:
Vista is a temporary brand. Starbucks closed at the end of December as their contract expired. An exciting new local coffee brand will be permanently moving into this location in March. Until then, the new operator (using Starbucks’ products) is running the unit temporarily as Vista, ensuring passengers get their caffeine fix.
This change is part of a major overhaul of the food and beverage offerings in T1 and T2 at Dublin Airport which will happen over the coming months. Passengers will see several units operate on a temporary basis in the short term – under generic brands – while the fit-out works are completed.
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In middle of Gaza genocide, 12 UK universities sign new research partnerships with Israel
Deaf ear to the suffering of Palestinian civilians as UK government gives away cash to incentivise partnering with Israel
Twelve universities across the UK have applied for and accepted government grants to undertake ‘a range of ‘mobility projects focussed on innovation and entrepreneurial skills development’ in partnership with Israeli universities.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is handing out the cash to pay for researchers to ‘hone their expertise via international collaboration’ with a focus on ‘entrepreneurship and Technology Readiness Levels’ (TRLs) ‘, according to the Universities UK website. The cash will also fund researchers to travel to Israel and will ‘further links with the Israeli ecosystem through existing research and innovation collaborations and open the door to new opportunities’.
At a time when students and activists around the world are demanding a boycott of Israeli products, services and institutions, the universities below have taken the cash – some of them twice:
- Aston University – Weizzman Institute of Science and Bar-Ilan University
- Edge Hill University – Tel Aviv University
- Queen Mary University of London – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University
- Royal Veterinary College – Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Teesside University – Tel Aviv University
- UCL – Tel Aviv University
- University of Exeter – Tel Aviv University
- University of Greenwich – Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- University of Kent – Technion
- University of Leeds – Tel Hai College
- University of Plymouth – Technion
- University of Surrey – Bar-Ilan University
The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement has described Israeli universities as working closely with the Israeli state to develop weapons and systems that can be used to oppress and kill Palestinians:
Israeli universities are major, willing and persistent accomplices in Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.
They are involved in developing weapon systems and military doctrines deployed in Israel’s recent war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza, justifying the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land, rationalizing gradual ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians, providing moral justification for extra-judicial killings, systematically discriminating against “non-Jewish” students, and other implicit and explicit violations of human rights and international law.
To end this complicity in Israel’s violations of international law, Palestinian civil society has called for an academic boycott of complicit Israeli academic institutions. Refusing to normalize oppression, many academic associations, student governments and unions as well as thousands of international academics now support the academic boycott of Israel.
As Skwawkbox revealed yesterday, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting last week promoted – and visited in 2022 – an Israeli data company with close links to the Israeli military that is processing NHS test results. The founder of the firm is a ‘tech entrepreneur’ who has spoken and written about the importance of technology in fighting ‘terrorism’. Yet another occasion where the ‘Labour’ front bench is completely aligned with the views and behaviour of the Tories they are supposed to be opposing.
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Outrage builds over Unite’s use of Israel-linked firms as protesters occupy Axa Dublin office
Union management’s choice of firms is ‘huge embarrassment’, say insiders
A row has broken out in Unite over the union’s choice of insurer and hotel chain, after a group linked to the union occupied the European HQ of Axa insurance in Dublin.
Community Action Tenants’ Union (CATU) and the Dublin for Gaza group took over Axa’s offices and called for boycott of the company, according to Irish paper The Journal, because of the business being one of “725 European financial institutions that have subsidised apartheid Israel’s colonial settlements“. Axa told the paper that it “has no proprietary investments in any of the banks cited in recent calls for boycott”.
The action prompted growing anger among supporters of Palestinian human rights in Unite Ireland that the UK and Irish union’s official, democratic position is firm support of Palestinian freedom and right of return to lands taken from them by the Israeli settler-colonial project – and opposition to Israeli occupation, apartheid and oppression.
In fact, at its annual conference earlier this year, Unite delegates voted to formally support the ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’ (BDS) movement that represents Palestinians’ peaceful resistance to the occupation by encouraging businesses to refuse to buy from or do business with illegally-occupied territories, in a resolution saying that Unite:
[recognises that] Israel is practicing the crime of apartheid, calls for an end to the UK Government’s proposed free trade agreement with Israel, and for support for BDS campaigns against companies complicit in supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
Yet according to union insiders, Axa is Unite’s insurer in Ireland – and Unite’s designated provider of hotel accommodation is the Leonardo hotel group, which is part-owned by the Israeli Fattal group. One outraged insider told Skwawkbox:
It’s a huge embarrassment to Unite and one that is causing a lot of anger – even more so as our Irish exec meeting next month is taking place in the Belfast Leonardo’s.
What’s worse is that this has been going on for months and the union still hasn’t done anything to change it. Businesses linked to Israel should never have been selected in the first place, let alone still be used now with everything that’s going on in Gaza.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has already infuriated supporters of Palestinian rights by remaining silent for many weeks at the start of Israel’s latest genocidal assault on Gaza – then making a grossly asymmetrical statement appearing to treat Israeli deaths more seriously than Palestinian; and ultimately allegedly having the exec railroaded into accepting only her preferred wording when a statement was eventually issued.
Graham was also exposed using proxies to order the cancellation of showings of the film ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn/The Big Lie’, which exposes the political abuse of antisemitism accusations against left-wingers in the Labour party, and discussion of Asa Winstanley’s forensic book Weaponising Antisemitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn. Proxies were similarly despatched to try, unsuccessfully, to cancel a Unite ‘fringe’ event at Labour’s conference earlier this month in support of Palestinians.
Her popularity in Ireland is already low. Irish union legend Brendan Ogle is also suing her, her ally Tony Woodhouse and the union for defamation; he also alleges that he was abused by the union after his return from treatment for serious cancer – and after he made ‘protected disclosures’ to the union about its failures to adhere to covid protocols during the pandemic. Graham and her representatives have been accused of ‘disgusting’ behaviour toward Ogle – and anger in Ireland at the situation became so great that an entire sector branch threatened to disaffiliate entirely from Unite, the well-known ‘Right2Water’ campaign said it will no longer work with Unite, Unite’s Community section in Ireland condemned the ‘injustice inflicted’ on him and members picketed general secretary Sharon Graham’s long-delayed visit to Dublin.
Ms Graham is using Denton’s one of the world’s most profitable law firms to defend the defamation suit and Ogle’s the tribunal case. Denton’s was lambasted after its initial social media statement on Israel/Gaza failed even to mention the many Palestinian deaths. The statement was subsequently deleted and replaced.
Her tenure as Unite boss has been marked by a string of other allegations – which neither she nor the union has denied – including alleged destruction of evidence against her husband in misogyny and bullying complaints.
The Euro Med Monitor group reports that some 24,000 civilians in Gaza have been killed so far in just nine weeks by Israel’s bombing, shelling and invasion, around half of them children. Israel is also continuing to kill Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Politicians around the world have called on the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute Israeli government ministers for genocide and other war crimes.
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Video: after 10k+ dead, more maimed, Streeting won’t say Israel committing war crimes
How many deaths will it take for shiny right-wing Labour MP to admit it?
Shadow Health Secretary Wesley Streeting, one of Labour’s worst in a very competitive field, has been the target of numerous protests for the people of Gaza and was even boycotted by hundreds of schoolchildren last week. Last night he again showed when, when he was repeatedly asked whether Israel is committing war crimes against Palestinians – and would not say it.
Instead, he danced around the issue and tried to make sympathetic noises while avoiding the simple truth:
Locals have demanded Streeting’s resignation for his betrayal of humanity. With ten thousand and more killed by Israeli bombing and thousands more physically and psychologically maimed, how many more need to die before Streeting will develop a conscience and demand a ceasefire and for Israel to be held to account?
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