Hawzah News Agency- Quiet boycotts, which started in supermarkets nearly two decades ago, have turned into widely used apps that help millions make choices about purchases.
Campus protests and encampments in the US and Canada have led some major education institutions to cut ties with Israeli counterparts, while investments into Israel have dipped, and some of the world’s largest economies have recognised Palestine as a state.
Dr Mohammed Mustafa is a Palestinian Australian doctor whose parents left their native Deir el-Balah in central Gaza decades ago in search of a better life. He says the experience of watching a genocide livestreamed has changed many people.
In recent months, pro-Palestine protests have seen a noticeable uptick – between May and September 2025, they increased by 43 percent compared with the five months prior.
Israel has grown increasingly isolated, the founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Omar Barghouti, told Al JazeerA.
“The BDS movement has played the most important role in exacerbating the isolation of Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and now genocide'', Barghouti said.
Boycat is one of several mobile apps launched over the past years to help consumers identify products targeted for boycott – it has partnered with the BDS movement, which helps keep its list up to date and ensure it follows BDS goals.
Boycotts have not only affected the bottom lines of several companies complicit in Israel’s occupation but have also led to investments being pulled out of Israel and international embargoes on it, increasing economic and political pressure.
Two of the largest US food and beverage chains, McDonald’s and Starbucks, have felt the effect of boycotts, facing declining sales and reputational backlash, particularly across the Middle East and other Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.
In September, the Spanish government cancelled a weapons deal with Israel worth nearly 700 million euros ($815m). Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had previously announced an upcoming law banning military trade with Israel, which came into effect on October 9.
In 2024, Norway’s pension fund and France’s AXA divested from Israeli assets linked to settlements.
Source: AL JAZEERA
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