Consumer Boycotts

[Desertrose2023]

I posted the BDS list in the supporting Palestinian businesses thread and recent discussion on another thread re the backlash against Zara got me wondering how many others are participating in consumer boycotts linked to the conflict in Gaza (and the occupation in Palestine) or for different reasons.

there are a number of brands I’m boycotting usually for a mix of reasons, political, environmental and social. Interested to hear views from others.

Disclaimer: to avoid any misinterpretation or twisting of my words - I do not support any acts of violence or vandalism or boycotting based on religion/ethnicity.

all the ones on the BDS committee list

https://bdsmovement.net/

in addition to a few others (sample below)

Starbucks: overpriced shit coffee and they recently sued their union for tweeting in support/solidarity with Palestine.

Zara: I stopped buying stuff following the controversy of their head womenswear designer making disgusting anti-Palestinian comments. The reports of slave labour (Uyghurs and in Brazil) plus the recent tone deaf ad campaign was the final straw. Plus trying to be more conscious re reducing how much ‘fast fashion’ I buy anyway.

Nestle: a history of unethical corporate practices plus including ownership of an Israeli food company with production in OPT.

Your notes / quotes appear to be from a different website other than the main BDS site, you appear to have copied them maybe from the following site, which is not the main BDS site:

https://www.israelactionnetwork.org/bds-101

Whereas the BDS own website says this, for example, regarding the two state solution (just one of your points, I've not checked them all):

The BDS movement does not advocate for a particular solution to the conflict and does not call for either a “one state solution” or a “two state solution”. Instead, BDS focuses on the realization of basic rights and the implementation of international law.

https://bdsmovement.net/faqs#collapse16233

I'm boycotting too. Mcds burger
King, zara, dominos, pizza hut, Marks and spencer

The bds website is good if you want to do a targeted boycott.

The other one linked on page is too wide ranging- it lists both the conservative party as well as Labour.

And agree - some of the reasons for boycotting some of the companies is tenuous.

It would be good if there was a halfway house between the two.

With clothing stores I’ve basically had to change my whole approach to shopping. I now buy more expensive better quality/ sustainable stuff, but I buy it much much less frequently. There are a few good style bloggers on Instagram who are great at giving advice on building up a ‘capsule collection’ basically key items (eg classic black dress, white t shirt, jeans etc.,) that you can switch up and accessorize in different ways to look fresh/on trend. Helped my conscience and my wallet.

Bingo!

I agree that it can’t be done perfectly and the more generalized the boycott is the less effective. I do know a few who’ve withdrawn their Labour Party membership because of KS’s position on the conflict though.
i tend to go for the ones where I feel there is a lot of momentum behind it as the more people participle the more likely to have an impact. Also where the nature of the company’s business or their leadership position is most offensive to me personally / overt.

🤣🤣🤣

I thought the idea of the BDS was to boycott the Israeli companies? It also seems to target individuals who happen to be Israeli which seems racist? Barghouti himself refuses to work with Israelis- even those sympathetic to the cause.
He says that those Palestinians who engage are 'clinically delusional' which doesn't lead me to believe that he is in favour of working towards the two state solution.

What I have copied and pasted is a brief outline of their goals. The leaders and organisers have stated this stuff from the beginning 2001 in Durban. You can find videos of these three things being stated by BDS organisers and followers. This isn't controversial or a secret it is what the boycott tactic is about. Similarly Hamas changed their charter to be more fund rasing from westerners friendly but publicly still stated the same stuff they always have because they believe the same stuff to be their end goal

Just a quick Google because I can't be bothered to do the homework for people but this seems to contain several videos basically saying the same thing I have hear from BDS over the years:

https://www.creativecommunityforpeace.com/bds-movement-the-truth/

The Durban 2001 conference where it was first promoted is now know world wide as a racist endeavour. So basically it is the birth child of that.

The truth is I won't buy Adidas because of their handling of the Kanye situation or various other brands for different reasons. People should boycott organisations or brands that don't match their own moral or political thinking. It is just BDS is not at all what most people believe it to be. Therefore people should avoid buying Israeli if they wish but not because of recommendations made by BDS.

I kind of feel like there is no winning with some people. You can't protest against Israel or you will be accused of being part of 'antisemitic marches'. BDS which is a non violent way to protest and raise awareness - that's wrong too. You can't even talk too much about Israel or you are accused of being antisemitic because why do you care anyway when x,y and z bad stuff is happening elsewhere. How are people supposed to voice their displeasure of Israels treatment of Palestinians? No method is 100% perfect but lots of people just don't feel right doing nothing especially when our governments, the people we rely on to act on our behalf, are choosing to do nothing. If my government would place sanctions on Israel the same way that Russia was sanctioned and commit to trying everyone responsible for war crimes then perhaps I wouldn't feel the need to take part in protests until that happens though I can't just sit and watch.

I don't disagree with the idea yourself and others want to boycott Israeli goods. That seems perfectly reasonable as myself avoid goods from companies. However BDS isn't the organisation to get information from about anything because they have an end goal that isn't about promoting peace. Just do your own research and work out which companies you feel support the Israeli government actions etc. Then don't buy from them.

Similar to people that are willing to go on protests organised by known Jew haters or an ex member of Hamas. I don't understand why people are willing to hang their coat on that peg. Go to vigils, write to MPs or demand the organisers that are iffy get kicked off the organisation committees. There is a lot that protesters can do that doesn't aline them with hateful people or make others question motives.

Thank you. I appreciate there are two sides to every story. I will check it out later.

That said on quick glance, looking at the other side of things, I see CCFP who produced that video are not necessarily themselves free from controversy:

"DON’T BE FOOLED BY RIGHT-WING FRONT GROUP “CREATIVE COMMUNITY FOR PEACE”

https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/fact-sheet.pdf

"Documents Prove “Creative Community for Peace” is Front for Right-Wing Israel Lobby Group “StandWithUs”

https://bdsmovement.net/news/ccfp-front

@Desertrose2023

"I didn’t actually know that. There are many companies that have a lot to answer for tbh re forced Uyghur labour and modern slavery in general, especially within the garment industry."

+++

A friend of mine works for a company building solar farms and it had really strict social and environmental policies including strict anti modern slavery policies.

When they found out that the solar panels they were buying were made with Muslim Uyghur slave labour and in complete violation of their policies they had this big internal process to buy them from elsewhere.

They then discovered it was either not possible or like double the price and chose to ignore it and pretend the 6 month process of a team of people trying to find an alternative supply never happened.

As it appears this movement originated in the Palestinian Territories it is going to have some links to Hamas. That said it does appear to be a separate organisation and boycotting is definitely a better method of protest than firing rockets.

From the article linked below:

“When Pompeo conflated BDS with anti-Semitism, Palestinians, as well as national and international civil rights advocates, objected.
“As we have made clear, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism,” Pompeo said in a Nov. 19 statement”

Thats a bit tricky as it gives you 2 choices:
a) let Israel do wherever it wants, no accountability
b) be antisemitic.

Maybe Israel needs to learn to compromise?

https://time.com/5914975/what-to-know-about-bds/

Another company I boycott is ASOS, because of their treatment of employees in the pandemic – demanding they go into work and ignore distancing rules, etc.

It’s a worrying infringement on free speech and a conflation which must be resisted from a legislative perspective. A number of US states eg New York have passed anti-BDS laws to try and limit the movement.

Thank you for sharing that. How terrible. The plight of the Uyghurs unfortunately does not receive the international attention that it should. It was truly shameful that China got the 2022 Winter Olympics given what everyone knows about what they’re doing to the people in Xinjiang.

I didn’t know that about ASOS thanks for sharing. I’ve bought stuff from there occasionally (mainly maternity wear as everything I found in the actual shops was so hideous). Fast fashion in general is so awful, I don’t think there’s one decent chain out there which doesn’t engage in abuse of some kind, whether it’s labour or environmental.

If we lookhard enough we could probably find reason to boycott most products, we all feel more or less strongly about different issues and so much is interlinked too.

I do hate bandwagon jumping and virtue signalling (when people just want to protest but they're not sure what they're protesting against).

Everything consists of chemicals, it will be specific chemicals or combinations of chemicals you react to.