A lapse of judgement by Gasant Abarder while buying a product on the boycott list of companies aligned with Israel and the accompanying backlash has made him go where few are prepared to tread in this new #SliceofGasant column. And that is to ask a few questions about the boycott campaign, knowing full well the firestorm he is creating for himself.
Abarder, who recently launched his book, Hack with a Grenade, is among the country’s most influential media voices. Catch his weekly column here.
I am going to stoke a hornet’s nest with this column and people aligned to a free Palestine and the end of its occupation. Most importantly, I need to declare my personal view that there is only one right side: for a free Palestine and I’m firmly on that side. This isn’t war. War is between two or more nations of equal might. Israel is a bully with nuclear weaponry that is busy with genocide and crimes against humanity while the world idly sits by.
People are going to come for me for what I’m about to say. But I may as well quit this column if its intent doesn’t contest ideas and evoke debate. I’m going where few are willing to go for fear of the backlash for asking questions about the boycott of South African-owned companies with licences to trade US (the US, being a firm Israeli ally) multi-national brands.
I boycott certain products and I think it is an important and effective way of supporting Palestine. But boy, was I in trouble last week when I posted a picture of a Starbucks product as a way of showcasing the place where I work because I’m the media and marketing manager there. People asked if my account had been hacked and how I could call myself a Muslim and I was alerted by a friend that people were calling me all kinds of things as my Instagram post circulated on WhatsApp.
(The friend owns a franchise of a brand affiliated with Coca-Cola. But more about that later.)
The truth is, I’d forgotten Starbucks was on the South African BDS Coalition’s list of businesses to boycott. The truth is, I’d walked a few kilometres on a sweltering day. The truth is, I was dog-thirsty. The truth is, the iced coffee I bought tasted like dog shite!
After realising my lapse, I apologised profusely and deleted my post. I asked for an updated list and checked the SA BDS Coalition page, so I don’t repeat my mistake. I also sent them a private message, asking for a list and the reasons behind the boycott of particular brands. I’ve yet to receive a response.
There are quite a few brands with a South African footprint on the list on the BDS Instagram post and reasons why they should be boycotted that I was sent by a kind stranger. The coalition includes McDonald’s, Hewlett-Packard, Sodastream, Cape Union Mart, Dischem, Coca-Cola and Puma, to name a few.
The post says a targeted boycott can help end the genocide. I agree. Boycotts, divestments, and sanctions contributed to the end of apartheid. I don’t buy from Cape Union Mart or its affiliated stores or any of its products because of its owner’s pro-Israeli stance (despite his recent backtracking).
Dis-Chem sources loads of Israeli products and its CEO made his pro-Israeli stance clear. And Rob Hersov, who owns the biggest padel franchise in South Africa (the guy the DA regularly gives a public platform to) among many other businesses, made his disdain known to Palestine in a very public post. So, I will never play padel there.
The coalition, for example, writes that ‘McDonald’s Israel provided thousands of meals to soldiers in the IDF (Israeli Defence Force)…’ and ‘Puma sponsors the Israeli Football Association…’
What it doesn’t say is that in 1998, the National Beverage Company (NBC) obtained a license to produce Coca-Cola products in Palestine, ‘proudly produced by Palestinians’. The list doesn’t feature Manchester City whose new-ish fans wear the club’s Puma shirts. It doesn’t inform pro-Palestinian Liverpool fans to stop supporting the club because it is sponsored by AXA – a European bank it says has close Israeli ties. Neither does it draw attention to Manchester United, supported by thousands in Cape Town alone, for kicking people with Palestine flags out of its stadium.
Here is the truth: We’re a country where a third of the adult population is unemployed. McDonald’s South Africa, Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages and other such brands are locally owned and employ thousands of South Africans. When their bottom line is cut, jobs are cut.
They have licences to produce the products from US multinationals. In many cases, those who acquired the licences are homegrown South Africans. Perhaps we can question their choices but I know one or two personally and, like me, they are 1000 percent behind the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the end of genocide.
The poor chap who alerted me to the WhatsApp chatter owns a single coffee shop brand with an affiliation to Coca-Cola and is going through the most now despite his support for Palestine.
He and others are too afraid to say anything for fear of the backlash I’m going to get for this column. Their businesses are deeply rooted and invested in our communities, sponsor NPOs and community upliftment initiatives and are often the first to react when there is trouble, like a natural disaster. They employ and promote hundreds of thousands of people who support Palestine.
But once you’re accused of being a wife-beater, despite truth to the contrary, that kind of dirt usually sticks. Again, I’d like an updated list from BDS telling me about South African-owned companies that support apartheid Israel. These I will gladly boycott. Until then, I’ll stick to Chicken Licken. But a boycott where the nuance of local ownership is not considered hurts South Africa more than it helps Palestine.
Also read:
Picture: Joshua Rodriguez / Unsplash