Ongoing protests highlight the complicity of corporations operating in Israel or funding its military.
- On July 25, the Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee and several other organisations picketed against companies supporting Israel.
- McDonald’s, Google, Amazon, and Coca-Cola are among the mega-corporations complicit in the genocide.
- Protestors spoke of the power of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions to advance the Palestinian struggle.
“Every time the media lies, a little child in Gaza dies!” and “hey hey, ho ho, occupation has got to go!” were two of the rallying cries heard on Friday, July 25, as the Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee led the latest in a month-long series of pickets.
Rainy and cold weather could not keep the group from showing up, again, to protest against corporations accused of funding and supporting Israel by operating in the country.
The picket formed part of the wider Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, a global, non-violent initiative formed in 2005 to promote divestment and economic sanctions against Israel. Much like the anti-Apartheid boycotts of the 1980s, the movement aims to secure liberation for Palestine through financial pressure.
“It’s so important that we keep on coming out because we know what it’s like to experience apartheid. What’s happening in Gaza has surpassed that, it’s gotten to the point of genocide. We cannot stop fighting. We need to keep on showing up,” said Nureen Salooji, a member of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League.
Members of South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) attended, waving Palestinian flags and displaying banners that highlighted their solidarity.
“We’re here to express condemnation against Israel’s genocide against Palestinians and against the companies and countries that are complicit,” said Julia Hope from SAJFP.
“This week, we’re dealing with the reality of what forced starvation looks like, which is hundreds of children dying in Gaza. This is not just a famine by circumstance, it’s an active forced starvation,” she continued.
The location of the protest was strategic, taking place across the street from a McDonald’s branch and the Coca-Cola offices in Rosebank, on Oxford Road.
Protestors argued that an action as simple as purchasing a Big Mac makes everyday people, many unknowingly, complicit in funding a genocide.
The BDS boycott list includes companies such as McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Reebok, and several more food, technology and travel corporations. These businesses operate branches or franchises in Israel that have allegedly provided generous donations to the Israel Defence Force (IDF).
Some support the genocide more directly, with Amazon and Google having previously developed AI technology and computing infrastructure for the IDF in a $1.2 billion contract in 2021.
The struggle for a free Palestine is ongoing, and pickets will be continuing as Joburg residents add their voices to the global call to end violence in Gaza.
FEATURED IMAGE: A sign displayed by protestors calling on the public to boycott McDonald’s. Photo: Mbali Khumalo.
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