Sultanate's population joins largely spontaneous move against the likes of Starbucks and McDonald's amid hostility to US support for Israel
Graffiti in Muscat, Oman, where many people support the Palestinian cause and boycott western goods
Joe Gill in Muscat writes in
Middle East Eye 2 March 2024
“I used to drink Mountain Dew almost every day, a day would not go without it, but now I have stopped,” he told Middle East Eye.
As an Omani who is committed to boycotting western goods over the support of the US and its allies for Israel in its war on Gaza, he now buys Thai drinks and Kinsa, a Saudi drink brand.
He has also changed his shopping habits, and now boycotts western supermarkets in Oman in solidarity with the Palestinians.
“I have never stepped inside a Carrefour since the war started,” he said, referring to the French hypermarket chain that has three stories in Muscat.
The boycott campaign in Oman since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza has led to a drop in sales for major US companies including McDonald’s and Starbucks, and the emergence of alternative consumer brands sourced from non-western and Muslim countries.
Hamed said he is a boycott activist and showed MEE his phone with a post he recently created featuring an illustration of Aaron Bushnell, the US Air Force serviceman who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC on 25 February in a protest at US support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“I am going too deep with this situation, I’m starting to get crazy, because I see a lot of videos [from Gaza]. There is a lot of suffering happening there,” said Hamed.
Like many Omanis, Hamed began a consumer boycott of western goods in October, and he’s still doing it nearly five months later.
“Most of my family and friends are fed up already [with the boycott], but I’m doing my best to boycott as much as I can.”
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