Iraq
Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, makes a speech from his house in Najaf, Iraq, August 30, 2022. Photo: Anmar Khalil/AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday called on his supporters to boycott all products of businesses that support the United States and Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
“All believers in Palestinian case, all humanity devotees, all who reject mass massacres that happen in Gaza… should boycott all the products that support Israel, America, colonialism and the oppressive global arrogance,” Sadr said in a post on X that was published with an English translation.
There have been a number of calls in the Arab world to boycott Western brands and companies over their alleged links to Israel, slashing the earnings of many popular chains including McDonald’s and Starbucks.
The boycotts are in response to Israel’s deadly military campaign against Gaza, which has killed over 39,000 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s campaign was in retaliation to a large-scale incursion into southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants based in Gaza, which killed over 1,170.
Sadr said that the boycotts should be peaceful.
“All that should be in a peaceful boycotting by not selling nor buying, even [not] using them, without using violence as some parties do,” Sadr said, alluding to attacks on American brands in Baghdad earlier this year.
In late May, some American and British companies in Baghdad became the target of a series of attacks. The American company Caterpillar and the British Cambridge Institute were hit with explosives, without causing casualties or material damage. The attack came days after branches of popular American fast food restaurant KFC in Baghdad were targeted.
In late May, the US embassy warned that attacks on foreign businesses in Baghdad “could weaken Iraq’s ability to attract foreign investment.”
Iraq’s Security Media Cell called the attacks a “desperate” attempt to destabilize the country and harm its reputation.
Iraq is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has on several occasions condemned the lack of global support for justice for Palestinians.
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