Israel-Gaza conflict: Will banning select businesses in India help?

Imran Khan, an IT professional living in Kurla West has boycotted McDonalds and Starbucks in a bid to support Palestine. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

On October 28, Delhi author Arundhati Roy and Indian-origin novelist Jhumpa Lahiri joined hundreds of prominent international writers in signing an open letter pledging to boycott Israeli publishers and cultural institutions in a mark of protest against the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The letter states that culture has played an integral role in normalising injustices in the strife-hit region. The authors further write that they will not work with Israeli cultural institutions that have been "complicit" or silent observers of the "overwhelming oppression of Palestinians".

The letter has caused ripples across India, which has long considered Israel an ally, but where citizens' support is split between the two sides. While lakhs of people have thrown their support behind Israel with the tag #IndiaIsWithIsrael, a similar number took to the streets in nationwide protests in November 2023 against the war that has led to thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza. The protests were marred by police crackdowns across the country, including in Mumbai, where the police detained 17 people, including four minors, at a prayer meet for Palestinian children on November 14 (Children's Day) last year.

Yuvraj Pokhra, Jacinta Kerkatta and Shoeb Hussain

The jolt from the authors' pledge letter has been felt most keenly in this city, which serves as a microcosm of the national discourse on the issue. According to the World Jewish Congress' website, the majority of Indian Jews live in Mumbai and its surrounding areas, including Thane. The biggest synagogue outside Israel and in Asia is the Ohel David Synagogue in Pune.

The open letter - the first such high-profile action taken by Indians on the global stage - has re-energised some who have also shunned multi-national brands with an alleged pro-Israel stance as part of the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Boycotting their favourite brands is far from convenient, but for many Mumbaikars, this is a form of protest that they can sustain alongside their demanding daily routine in a city where the authorities don't look too kindly on agitations.

Not everyone can go to protests," says Shwetha Wankhede, a 38-year-old lawyer based out of Navi Mumbai, "It is difficult to find a space for protests in a city like Mumbai where there are crackdowns by the police. Not everyone can risk getting arrested and endangering their jobs or their livelihoods, some don't have access to legal counsel. Boycotting is a quiet way to protest."

A pro-Palestine protest in Mumbai's Azad Maidan in December 2023. Pic/Getty Images

Wankhede was already at odds with allegedly exploitative labour practices of some brands, but decided to boycott them in the aftermath of the Gaza conflict. "Boycotting Starbucks was a very conscious decision for me. With the escalation of the conflict, I have stopped buying from most brands that have been known to support the Israeli government. This now includes Dove, Ariel, Burger King… I monitor the list of brands to shun via the No Thanks app as well as the BDS website," she adds.

The last in-person demonstration against the Gaza conflict took place at Yari Road on April 5, on the last day of Ramzan. While there were no arrests made that day, attendance had dropped just 500 to 600 people.

Pooja Pradeep, whose work involves movement building (conflict transformation and community building), has been trying to organise on-the-ground protests, but has met with dwindling interest. "In the last few months, I've tried to find interested people not just to continue protests, but even to talk about what is going on, but it has been difficult to find many. Enthusiasm is lower than what it used to be probably because many feel despair or numbness. I understand that not everyone can sit in protests or donate or boycott. To them, I say, ‘Do what you can'," Pradeep tells us on a call from Havelock, Andaman and Nicobar, from where she works remotely.

A pro-Palestine protest at Puducherry in November last year

Boycott is a form of quiet protest, but it made a lot of noise in December 2024 when American coffee chain behemoth Starbucks was hit by a over R15.5 crore loss in value following a drop in sales. This was followed by the ouster of the then Chief Executive Officer Laxman Narasimhan in August. Amid growing protests in December, Narasimhan had written a year ender letter to his employees. "There are conflicts in many parts. It has unleashed violence against the innocent, hate and weaponised speech, and lies - all of which we condemn. We see protesters influenced by misrepresentation on social media of what we stand for," he said.

Another giant hit by the boycott is McDonald's. In March, the fast food giant's Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden announced that within hours of the boycott campaign, the company suffered losses of approximately $7 billion or R61 crore. The US-based chain's shares also plunged by more than three per cent during the trading session in that week. The brand's sales took the biggest hit in Muslim-dominated countries such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.

Soon the McDonald's Corporation in a post on X said, "We are dismayed by the disinformation and inaccurate reports regarding our position in response to the conflict. We are not funding or supporting any governments in this conflict."

Imran Khan, a resident of Kurla, is among those who closed their wallets to the fast food chain, despite his teenage daughters' (aged 14 and 17) love for the fries there. "Winter is fast approaching in Gaza," he says, trying to impress upon us the urgency for a resolution to the conflict which has left a majority of Palestianians displaced from their homes.

Since last year, the family has switched to fries from local eateries and stayed away from brands on the boycott list. "But it is very hard to stay off everything. There are products that I cannot avoid, but I try," says Khan. "We are doing this because it feels like a monster is attacking an ant, and children are caught between the crossfires."

An Oxfam report, Every Casualty Counts, released on October 7 to mark a year since the conflict escalated, states that 11,000 children have died in Gaza since then.
"I tell my daughters that we are Indians. As a country, we saw the British rule over us. We must try and look at it as a war between an occupier and the occupied, and not on the basis of religion," adds the IT professional.

There remain sceptics who question what the boycott hopes to achieve, with some even labelling it an anti-semitic movement.

Abhijit Iyer Mitra, a freelance journalist and YouTuber, doesn't hold punches while sharing his opinion: "A boycott is an absolute right, it's your money and you can do what you want. But the issue I have is given the historical precedent in the West, where Jews have been segregated and not allowed to engage in certain professions; this was the very tool that led up to the Holocaust. We see this repeated, with people saying they will not touch anything to do with the community. It's a classic case of anti-semitism repackaged in a new bottle."

Mitra goes as far as calling the boycott a pro-terrorist movement. "What is this campaign in support of? It is to support Hamas and Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations. This is sheer hypocrisy and their support of terror is just wrong," he says.

From Havelock, Pradeep counters that the boycott is not about targeting Jews, rather it is about shunning business and institutions with a pro-Israel stance. "Firstly, let us understand that when we say we want to boycott Israeli institutions or businesses that directly cause harm, we do not mean boycott Jewish people. The State of Israel is different from Judaism and conflating the two is wrong. Infact, plenty of pro-Palestinian Jewish activists have been exhibiting what it means to show true solidarity in these times," she explains.

The Israeli consulate in Mumbai, on being contacted for a statement on the cultural boycott, denied comment.

We speak to photographer and cinematographer Tim Sassoon, who hails from the Sassoon family, which has had immense influence on the permeation of Jewish culture in Mumbai, founding institutions like the David Sassoon Library, for one. While no one from the family resides in India anymore - including Tim, who lives and works in Los Angeles, US - he tells us, "I would say that military doctrine universally says that the success of any counter-insurgency operation rests on the state's relationship with the civilian population. If the state is willing to separate and protect the civilians, keep them safe and satisfy their needs, then the state can win. If not, then the war will eventually be lost, as it has been in so many nationalist movements against a colonial power, from the Indo-China [anti-colonial resistance] to Algeria. The only other way to win is actual genocide - but at the expense of becoming a pariah state."

The Sassoon scion paints a bleak picture of the future: "I am disheartened that Israel is contemplating turning Gaza over to the settler movement. Gaza was always a Palestinian area, back to the prehistoric borders which Israel uses to assert their claim. It's expansionist. I do not expect Hamas or the Gazans to surrender, having sacrificed so much to get this far." Considering this, how much impact can one Indian have by choosing not to give their money to a brand alleged to sympathise with the Israeli cause?

This is a question Bandra-resident Shoeb Hussain, 32, gets a lot. Despite his love for Nike sneakers, he has stopped buying from the company. He continues to wear his existing pair, but has pledged not to buy a new set. "When I tell anyone that I am trying not to buy sneakers anymore or eat at fast food chains that support Israel, they ask - ;tum ko kya, isse kya hoga'," he says, "But what is the alternative - do nothing?"

So does the boycott movement really matter? "Every small and big resistance taking place in the world for Palestine is like the flame of a small lamp in the deep darkness," says Jacinta Kerketta.

The poet-journalist, who is known for her work highlighting the plight of Adivasis in Jharkhand, recently refused a literary award from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) because of its alleged ties to Boeing - one of the largest arms suppliers to Israel. "Thinking that such efforts will not succeed or that nothing will come of it can be extremely disheartening. We should make all such efforts with hope, so that we can say to ourselves and also to the new generation that we were not silent spectators," she adds.

Kerketta believes that the Adivasis have a lot in common with the Palestinian people. "Adivasi society has a long history of resistance. We do not struggle to accumulate power and authority. Our people have seen such massacres throughout our history. That's why I protest against the genocide of the people of Palestine. And there is a demand for their freedom and a dignified life for the people and children there. Adivasi people see this initiative as important and genuine," she adds, over the questionnaire we sent on WhatsApp.

What is the boycott movement?

BDS is a Palestinian-led non-violent movement calling for a boycott of Israeli and multi-national companies it believes are complicit in violation of Palestinian rights. The list of boycotted companies is constantly updated on the BDS website - bdsmovement.net. Protestors also refer to the No Thanks app, which was developed by Palestinian Ahmed Bashbash after he lost his brother in the attack on Gaza. The app's X handle (@NoThanksBoycott) says that it has over 4.5 million users throughout the world.

"The structure of international business hegemony is with these few companies and the way they diversify makes it difficult to keep track of who is complicit. So, I am very grateful for the No Thanks app and the BDS website, which tracks companies and updates even faster," says Shwetha Wankhede.

Others, though, have called it selective activism. Surat-based journalist Yuvraj Pokharna says, "Boycotts are fair and democratic. But the Machiavellian chaps with dubious credentials behind such organised campaigns is one thing that people can now see through. Why don't they speak for the rights of Hindus in Bangladesh, Canada or even Bharat?"

"Why only boycott Israel and single out Jews? Why not boycott OIC and Muslim nations for not condemning Islamist Jihad that the world is grappling with?" he adds.