Can boycotts really solve the Israel-Palestine conflict?

 I was walking at KLCC yesterday and felt like having coffee. So I went to Starbucks and ordered myself a hot latte grande.

There was a line and the tables were full. I managed to get a seat at one of the tall chairs. So much for the boycott of Israeli-linked corporations during these attacks on Gaza, Palestine. Business as usual I guess.

But we all know that both Starbucks and McDonald’s in Malaysia have no links to Israel even if the organisations in America or other countries do.

Statements have been released saying the franchise in Malaysia is fully owned by Malaysian entities. So in that sense, boycotting these two establishments really only hurts Malaysians.

As a company, they will suffer and all the people they employ, of which a majority are Malaysians, will suffer.

Will a boycott actually work? In my personal opinion, it might not be as effective as everyone seems to think it will be.

The last boycott that had an actual impact was way back in the 1980s, when there was an international boycott against the South African apartheid government. That worked in pressuring the government and eventually, led to the dismantling of apartheid in the country.

However, the situation with Palestine and Israel is quite different than South Africa. The support against apartheid in South Africa had overwhelming support all over the world.

That makes things easy to pressure them economically and financially. There was not much opposition other than from the South African government. Of course, there were other factors that contributed, but the economic boycott played a big part as well. This isn’t as simple when it comes to the current situation,

There is something called the BDS Movement (Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions) which is Palestinian-led. There are many people and even governments that support this.

For example, Danke Bank in Denmark blacklisted Israel’s Bank Hapoalim because they provide financing for projects in Israeli settlements in Palestine. PGGM, a Dutch pension fund management company, cut off ties with five Israeli main banks.

But is this really enough when there are so many others who support the Israeli version of the war? The support and siding of the situation is almost split dead centre.

Even if it isn’t exactly dead centre in terms of numbers, it is when it comes to economic and financial strength. The few that do support Israel have that might on their side and it is very difficult to fault people for needing to make a living.

But I do understand that this is a long game. Pressure these corporations hard and long enough, they will be forced to reconsider in order to survive, and that is what the BDS Movement is counting on.

I do not disagree (look at the issue with Grab, where our society managed to pressure them into taking the right stand). However, like I said, it might not be the most effective way anymore. It might still be one of the many ways, but just not as effective as before.

Just take Malaysia as an example. We can be so vocal about our support for Palestine. We can also be so loud and aggressive over a misunderstood boycott against Starbucks and McDonald’s Malaysia.

However, will we be willing to stop support for Disney who condemned the attacks on Israel and donated money? Are we willing to cancel our Disney+ subscriptions or stop watching sports news on ESPN?

Fight Zionism, not Jews

And even if we do, history has proven that most Malaysians will forget after a month or two and the enthusiasm will die down. I hope not, but I think it will.

Then there is the very delicate issue of supporting Palestine, yet not being anti-Semitic. There needs to be a realisation that we should be against the Zionist ideology and those supporting it. We are not against Jews or Israelis.

Most ordinary Jews and Israelis are human beings too. They are innocent too and when there are deaths and injuries amongst them, they feel the same way too.

Before you all accuse me of being an Israeli sympathiser (I realise how people can jump to this very easily), I know the proportion of death and suffering between Israel and Palestine is largely imbalanced.

However, death and suffering are the same no matter what side you are on. Do you really believe that the sorrow a parent feels when his or her innocent five-year-old child is killed by a missile is different depending on whether they are Jews or Muslims?

I’m going to assume that it is the same. Self-defence or not, who throws the first punch or not, it really doesn’t matter when innocent people die. That’s why violence and war is never the answer.

If I could have it my way, I would just say that both sides should stop any fighting totally. No giving excuses of retaliation or self-defence. It’s ridiculous!

It’s like kids fighting at the playground and yelling “He started it first!” and “No, he did!”. Whenever my brothers and I fought when we were kids and said this, my parents would say “It doesn’t matter! Both of you are wrong for fighting, now say sorry and just makeup!”. And we would stop fighting.

But as they all say, things aren’t as simple as that. A long history that spans centuries and belief systems that have been ingrained over so many generations just solidifies the complexity that exists between Israel and Palestine.

Even though the solutions can be seen as very obvious, to me anyway - both sides should just put down their weapons and have a long talk with each other to settle everything - it probably won’t happen that way.

So many meetings have taken place between them over the decades and nothing has ever been agreed on, or if there is an agreement, over time, one side will start going against it.

Want an example? Just look at the amount of land Palestinians have lost today as compared to what was set by the United Nations in 1947.

Israel was given 56 percent of the territory and Palestinian Arabs were given 42 percent. Jerusalem, being such a contentious site, was to be administered by the UN.

Today, Palestine only has Gaza and the West Bank - through forced settlements by Israel.

Reset not that easy

There you go. Like I said, the history and perspectives make everything more complicated. Things have not been fair or equal.

How will you now stop everything, reset the situation to zero and start new negotiations to make sure everything is fair and equal? Very difficult, of course. How do you erase all the atrocities that have been committed throughout the years and start fresh? How do you forget all the deaths and suffering and just say “Let’s forget all that and move forward?”

I guess it’s just easier for me to say it living 8,000 km away from where these things are happening. But I still hope that human beings will come to their senses and see things my way (ha!).

Think about it. If things just continue the way it is, then the complexities of the situation will just continue to add up. And for how long? Many more centuries and many more generations? It would be even more difficult than to want to solve anything.

So what do we do in the meantime? I guess we continue to boycott Zionist activities, we continue to hold our rallies, world leaders can continue to call out the atrocities being committed by Israel and so on and so forth.

Maybe we can add one more element into the mix, and that is to also raise more awareness and provide education about the situation to everyone.

What I have noticed, especially in Malaysia, is that the support for Palestine is automatic by default. It would be better if we also educate ourselves as to why we are supporting Palestine and educate ourselves about the complexities of the situation.

We should also make an effort to come together with others in the international community in solidarity with Palestine. All the nations and corporations that share this stand should organise themselves better and put forth a concerted non-violent solution to the table against Israel and their supporters.

If we did this, I am sure that the strength in numbers and the strength in economic might could be used as leverage.

But there needs to be proper organisation on an international level, instead of just silo rallies and boycotts happening here and there.

I believe if this were to happen, then we can really scream Viva Palestine! Oh, and also Viva Rohingya, Viva Uyghurs, Viva Tibet and Viva so many other oppressed societies that need our attention. - Mkini

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ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.