The Isreali-Palestinian conflict dates back to the end of the end of the 19th century. After World War 2 (WW2), the United Nations adopted the Partition Plan which aimed to find a place to relocate all of the displaced persons in the Jewish community. They divided the British Mandate of Palenstine into a Jewish and Arab side, which resulted in many Palestinains becoming displaced. Since then, there have been numerous Israeli-Palestinian conflicts throughout the century. On October 7, 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas, a militant group that gained control of the Palestinian territories in 2006. Since then, President Joe Biden has been displaying a strong sense of support for Israel, while 3 in 10 Americans state that they are more sympathetic towards Palestinians which has made a huge impact on many U.S. brands.
After Joe Biden’s statement, many U.S. brands made their statements as well on their opinions on Israel vs Palestine. The president and CEO of the breakfast and beverages brand, Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is also Jewish has made a statement on his support for Israel. This has led to backlash from Palestinian supporters with false claims on Starbucks providing food and resources to the Jewish military.
On December 12, clothing brand Zara withdrew their controversial ad campaign featuring statues dressed all in white cloth, resembling to many the victims of the Israeli-Palestine war. Although Zara had claimed the campaign was shot before the start of the conflict, there remained much backlash from consumers. Zara made multiple statements on the fact that there was an overreaction from the public, saying “[consumers] saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created.” Conversely, critics of Zara claimed that mistakes like this should not be happening, and “You’re not aware enough of current affairs to be working in marketing.”
With a plethora of brands that people have been told to boycott, easy access to platforms like Tiktok and Instagram makes it much easier to provide potentially incorrect information. Looking for reputable sites and verified lists are important when looking to boycott, as there have been multiple viral posts with false information. As the war in Gaza continues to gain increasingly more media coverage, it is important to stay educated and be mindful of the situation.
