Protests calling for an end to Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians are growing louder.
Live streaming of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip has led to record numbers of calls to boycott Israel, with global impact.
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What started as a quiet boycott of supermarkets nearly 20 years ago is now a widely used app that helps millions of people make purchasing choices.
Campus protests and camps in the United States and Canada have led some major educational institutions to cut ties with Israeli institutions, investment in Israel has declined, and some of the world’s largest economies have recognized Palestine as a state.
Dr Mohamed Mustafa is a Palestinian-Australian doctor whose parents left their hometown of Deir El Bala in central Gaza decades ago in search of a better life.
He has been volunteering at a hospital in Gaza for the past two years, and has been sharing all of his experiences on social media, including his visits to Gaza, attending conferences, and advocating for Palestinians.
He said the experience of watching the genocide live-streamed changed many people.
“For years, Palestinians have felt like we were shouting into the void. Now, seeing people across the continent marching, creating art, and demanding justice gives us hope that the world’s conscience is finally awakening.
“When I was young, I never imagined such global solidarity…Now to see the tide turning…it’s so moving. I feel like the truth is finally starting to find its voice,” he continues.
Nearly 50,000 pro-Palestinian protests in two years
Pro-Palestinian protests have increased markedly in recent months, increasing by 43 percent from May to September 2025 compared to the previous five months.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), at least 49,000 pro-Palestinian protests have taken place in 133 countries and territories over the past two years.
The highest number of pro-Palestinian demonstrations was in Yemen (15,266 people), followed by Morocco (5,482 people), the United States (5,346 people), Turkiye (2,349 people), Iran (1,919 people), Pakistan (1,539 people), France (1,397 people), Italy (1,390 people), Spain (1,102 people), and Australia. (967).
The map below shows the locations of 49,000 pro-Palestinian protests held from October 7, 2023 to October 3, 2025.
Expansion of boycott
Israel is becoming increasingly isolated, Omar Barghouti, founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, told Al Jazeera.
BDS was launched in 2005 to defend Palestinian rights and end Israeli occupation and apartheid by targeting co-conspirators rather than individuals, he said.
Barghouti comes from a Palestinian family that is deeply involved in politics and culture. Among the famous Barghoutis is Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving several life sentences in Israeli prisons.
“The BDS movement has played the most important role in exacerbating the isolation of the Israeli regime of settler colonialism, apartheid, and now genocide,” Barghouti said.
Barghouti pointed out that even the president of the Israel Export Association, Avi Balashnikov, acknowledged the challenges in global trade.
“Economic boycotts and BDS organizations present great challenges, and in some countries we are forced to operate under the radar,” Balashnikov said at the Mind the Tech Conference 2024.
“BDS achieved this impact by channeling the immense grief, anger and solidarity expressed by tens of millions of people around the world into a strategic, non-violent and highly effective boycott and divestment campaign,” Barghouti added.
The BDS movement has identified numerous companies deemed complicit in Israel’s occupation, human rights abuses, and apartheid policies.
Their campaign is divided into three main groups.
Priority boycott targets: Companies and organizations with a track record of complicity in Israeli apartheid and occupation. The BDS movement is calling for a complete boycott of these brands. Targets of pressure: Companies that BDS actively pressures through boycotts (where alternatives exist), lobbying, peaceful protests, social media campaigns, and strategic legal actions. Organic Boycott: A grassroots campaign initiated by local communities. BDS supports boycotted brands because they are complicit in Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
How do people boycott?
Sumaya Rashid*, a 45-year-old expat mother living in the United Arab Emirates, teaches her 11-year-old daughter about what Palestinian children are going through and explains how buying certain brands indirectly supports genocide.
“We no longer buy anything from McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut or Carrefour. These were the brands we were consuming before the boycott,” Rashid said, adding that they found local alternatives wherever possible.
Rashid said her daughter is immersed in Palestinian culture because of the school and the community around it.
“She may not understand the scale of the genocide, but she knows we cannot support Israel because they are the instigators of violence.”
Rashid has found it easy to find substitutes in the UAE, but uses the Boycat app to double-check unknown items.
Boycat is one of several mobile apps released over the past few years to help consumers identify products that are subject to boycotts. We are affiliated with the BDS movement and will help you keep the list up to date and ensure you adhere to BDS goals.
Across the Atlantic, 26-year-old Jaspreet Kaur*, who lives in Toronto, Canada, feels there are some restrictions on openly speaking in support of Palestine in Canada.
“Palestine has put a lot of things into perspective for many of us, and it’s an absolute luxury to just look at your morning coffee and realize that this is such a core need and necessity.
“Kids can’t play in the streets without fear of being bombed. I never have to think about that,” Kaur says.
“I can’t remember the last time I went to Starbucks or McDonald’s or used Airbnb or booking.com,” she says flatly.
Kaur uses apps to guide her and boycotts as much as she can, but said some consumer goods from multinational companies have crept into her life due to budget constraints.
Even though she works in corporate finance, Kaur finds it difficult to speak out about support for Palestine beyond her personal shopping choices.
“I haven’t gone to protests as much as I would have liked, taken off my Palestinian phone case, and removed the Palestinian flag from my Instagram profile. I personally can’t be as loud as I would like or need to be,” she says.
As an immigrant awaiting citizenship, Kaul says she feels her actions and ideas about Palestine are not well-received in public and at work.
What is the impact of the boycott?
The boycott not only affected the profits of several companies complicit in the Israeli occupation, but also led to divestment from Israel and an international embargo, increasing economic and political pressure.
In November 2024, French retailer Carrefour closed all of its stores in Jordan.
BDS has long highlighted Carrefour’s business relationships with Israeli companies in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The company also pulled out of Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, and its stores reopened as Hypermax, a local grocery chain started by regional franchisee Majid Al Futtaim.
The closure is seen as a major victory for the movement, demonstrating the power of consumer-led campaigns against multinational corporations.
McDonald’s and Starbucks, America’s two largest food and beverage chains, are feeling the effects of the boycott, particularly in the Middle East and other Islamic countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, where they have faced declining sales and reputational backlash.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a January 2024 earnings call that the fast food giant had a “significant impact” in multiple markets.
Starbucks reported its global sales have declined for the third consecutive quarter, with sales expected to decline 2% in 2024.
In September, the company announced plans to close dozens of U.S. stores and lay off about 900 employees as part of a $1 billion restructuring plan to reverse declining performance.
Divestment, sanctions and diplomatic measures
In September, the Spanish government suspended arms deals with Israel worth about 700 million euros ($815 million). Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez previously announced an upcoming law banning military trade with Israel, which went into effect on October 9.
In 2024, the Norwegian pension fund and France’s AXA sold Israeli assets related to the settlement.
Pension funds in Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands have also withdrawn investments in Israeli-linked companies, including Caterpillar, Expedia and TripAdvisor, over concerns about human rights abuses and involvement in illegal Israeli settlements.
In June, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom formally sanctioned far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for “inciting violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
In the same month, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain called for a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Sweden also called on the European Council to adopt sanctions “against Israeli ministers who promote illegal settlement activities and actively oppose a negotiated two-state solution.”
Mustafa says that as a Palestinian who has seen global trends change, he feels that the movement for Palestine has become “one of the most dynamic social justice movements of our time.”
“We have brought together people from all backgrounds – faith-based, secular, indigenous and global – and united them in a common demand for human dignity.
“I therefore believe that the Palestinian movement will shape how future struggles for justice are fought and understood,” he said.
UN surveillance
Since 2020, the United Nations Human Rights Office has maintained a database of companies profiting from Israel’s illegal settlement operations in the occupied West Bank.
The September 2025 update lists 158 companies operating within settlements deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice.
Nearly 90% of the companies are Israeli, but the list also includes multinational companies registered in Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
These include well-known companies such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Motorola, Re/Max, and TripAdvisor.
*Names have been changed at the request of the interviewee.
