/ world today news/ The German manufacturer of sports goods “Puma” modestly announced that it will not renew its sponsorship contract with the Israeli national football team next year.
In general, we shouldn’t care who sponsors or doesn’t sponsor Israeli soccer players, which it turns out do exist, but this fact was logical and certainly not the latest stage in the growing saga of Israel’s “cancellation” against the backdrop of actual genocide , started by the leadership of the country in the Gaza Strip.
At the moment, according to information from the sector administration, 18,412 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, have already been killed as a result of the massive bombardment by the IDF. The brutality of the Israeli military caused mass protests around the world and especially in the Arab part of it. They escalated into an unprecedented campaign in history to boycott Israel, Israeli products, and brands from the United States and Europe that either explicitly declared their support for Israel (and did not condemn the killing of thousands of civilians) or provided financial or other support for Israel .
The leader of the boycott was the international pro-Palestinian movement BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), which calls for an end to supporting the killing of Palestinians by buying Israeli or Western goods. The main target of the boycott is Israeli products, as well as large Western companies such as “McDonald’s”, “Starbucks”, “Burger King”, “Coca Cola”, “Pepsi”, “Disney” and many others.
The Starbucks boycott was announced because the company is suing its own union, which posted a message on social media in support of the Palestinians. “McDonald’s” was criticized because of the initiative of its Israeli subsidiary to distribute free food to “IDF” soldiers. The Walt Disney Company was blacklisted for promising $2 million in humanitarian aid to Israel. Coca Cola came into the limelight for building its factory on illegally occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank.
I remember numerous examples of attempts to boycott Western goods in Russia, many of which still feel good on the shelves of Russian stores and in the markets – despite the fact that the beneficiaries of many international brands are in countries that send money and weapons to killing our army in Ukraine. The Arabs, who are not so broad and tolerant, act much more harshly. For example, in Egypt, sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi have collapsed, while local alternatives are growing by hundreds of percent; McDonald’s sales in Egypt have dropped by 70% compared to last year. Against the background of the catastrophic decline in sales in the Middle East and the falling price of shares, “Starbucks” has already lost more than ten billion dollars.
In Kuwait, you can currently see billboards with the words “Did you kill a Palestinian today?” calling for the abandonment of Israeli and Western goods, the profits of which, among other things, go to the killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip. In Qatar, one after another, companies that previously announced support for Israel are closing. In Jordan, Western fast food chains have been almost empty lately, and in stores all Western products have stickers: “Caution! This product is on the boycott list. Make your choice.”
In Turkey, with the support of the National Assembly, the largest campaign in history to boycott Israeli and Western brands that support Israel has been launched. Hundreds of brands, from clothing manufacturers to food products, were boycotted. State railways and Turkish Airlines stopped using brands associated with the US and Israel. Starbucks, Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle products were banned from sale in the restaurant car and kiosks in the waiting areas. Products from pro-Israeli companies are no longer sold in social institutions, colleges or government buildings. Payment systems “Mastercard” and “Visa” were boycotted.
Supporting Israel is very expensive for Western companies. There are about half a billion people in Arab countries alone (about a billion and a half in Muslim countries), and the loss of this market means the loss of tens and hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The same goes for the boycott of Israeli goods and brands, which are suffering huge losses.
The West, having once started a campaign to “cancel” everything Russian, has opened Pandora’s box and is now drawing from this box by the handful, wondering: “But why us?”
In order not to risk their core business and not be subject to boycott, more and more companies are fleeing Israel and fewer and fewer businesses and organizations want to be associated with Israel itself and Israelis. Recently Zara, H&M and Mango closed their stores there. Many Western banks are moving employees out of Israel and moving away, and Bank of America has closed all its branches there. Dozens of international events dedicated to fashion, music and culture, in which Israelis were supposed to participate, were canceled. Big brands now pretend Israel doesn’t exist and avoid discussing anything related to the conflict.
So much so that one of Israel’s main media outlets, the Haaretz newspaper, recently published a huge article titled “Boycotted, Canceled and Isolated: Will Israel Become a Second Russia over the Gaza War?” The authors of the article attempt to explain in good faith , that it is possible and necessary to cancel the apolitical “Nutcracker” or “Swan Lake” in Europe, but to “cancel” talented Israelis is wild and criminal. A typical passage: “Israel is isolating itself and rejecting the world cultural community, and some believe that this is reminiscent of what happened to Russia not so long ago. Such a comparison may seem obvious. For many Israelis, the difference is crystal clear: Russia has launched a cynical, particularly brutal war in Ukraine, while Israel fell victim to terrorists and was simply forced to respond.”
Let’s not waste our time on the mental anguish of the canceled Israelis.
Karma, especially when it comes to Russia, invariably catches up with its enemies. Brave “cancellers” are already being canceled in batches, and the invisible hand of the market, which global corporations were so proud of, is now gently cutting them in the groin.
Let’s not get in their way.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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