ALBAWABA - Amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 7, many pro-Palestine activists are taking to social media platforms and streets to call for the boycott of products and services that support Israel but this leaves us with one question: Where does the word come from?
Boycott is an English word that means "to stop buying" something whether it's a service or product which includes technology, food, drinks, and more. The word came into existence from an Irishman called Charles C. Boycott who was an English land agent from the 19th century who refused to lower the rent for the farmers that resided on his land.
This resulted in the locals "boycotting" the man by not having dealings with him including not giving him their hard-earned cash which makes quite the impact on an individual or business money-wise.
Why and how is a boycott effective?
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Boycotting is an effective way to stop supporting a business or product for your beliefs and what you stand for as an individual as mentioned above. Take for example the ongoing boycott of products and services that allegedly support the state of Israel including McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Nvidia, Intel, and more.
Many pro-Palestine individuals are boycotting the brands mentioned above in hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza and for their conscious as by the time of writing this article, more than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed of whom more than 10,000 are children. Additionally, more than 60,000 Palestinians were also injured amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 7.
Pro-Palestine activists and users on social media continued to urge people to boycott such companies and stated that the boycotting is working as many chains are allegedly facing financial issues like in North African countries including Morocco and Egypt.
Here's what several users had to say on X:
"Keep boycotting"
"Don't forget to #BoycottMcDonalds - not only because they suck, but because they support Zionist apartheid genocide."
"#BoycottMcDonalds because at least 90% of its menu is no good for you."
"Keep BOYCOTTING child killers."
