The past few weeks have been a blur. I’m sure for most. My daily routine is wake up, check the news, drop my daughter to school, come back home. Watch the news with my cup of tea and get ready for work. During the day I am constantly checking the news. The images coming out of Gaza are getting worse and worse by the day. It’s incomprehensible. This leads me to my next point. Boycotting.
Me myself, I am all for boycotting. I don’t want my hard-earned money to be exchanged for blood money. But there is a question in my head. What about the innocent people working hard in their jobs for companies that fund Israel. I’m talking about baristas working for Starbucks, cashiers and cooks for McDonalds, Amazon drivers. The list goes on. I was shocked after researching how much money goes to Israel. Ordinary people get caught up in this too. I know they are not in Gaza, being bombed constantly, loosing generations of family members. But these people are in a job, and they have families to feed. It’s not their fault that the company they work for send profits to Israel. If you dig deep, you will find that the majority of large international company’s back Israel. It is easy to boycott. Simply instead of having a McDonald’s go to one of your local burger joints. Instead of buying Nestle water, buy Asda’s own. Instead of buying a Starbucks coffee, buy Aldi’s finest. The list goes on, there are always alternatives.
I told my daughter; I will not be funding these big companies anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a good Starbucks coffee, but I will not do that anymore. Palestinian lives’ matter way more than a cup of coffee. Not only will boycotting stop these big companies profiting, but we will also save money too. But once you decide to boycott, it should be for life. We should be loyal. I know it seems overwhelming, but it’s not as hard as it seems. My daughter came to me and said she really wanted a decaf coffee from Starbucks with a face on her. “But I won’t” she said. I explained to her that it must be her choice and decision and she must own that decision. You can’t say you will boycott something and be annoyed by that decision. You should be proud of it. She thought for a while and said I was right. She decided then that there would be no more Starbucks.
Leila Taha
