People are queuing up to buy a Shake Shack burger in Tel Aviv (social networking sites)

The grand opening of the first branch of the fast food chain Shake Shack in Israel sparked backlash, as it comes on the same day that the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that 18 people have died from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.

The Shake Shack branch opened in Tel Aviv on the 5th of this month, with people queuing up to buy burgers.

But it sparked calls for an international boycott, with people pointing out the irony that the opening comes at a time when several aid organizations have raised concerns about the risk of famine in Gaza, as a result of Israeli measures.

Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, Israel has cut off all supplies of fuel, food, electricity, water, and aid to Gaza, leaving about 2.4 million people suffering from hunger, dehydration, and loss of health care.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Shake Shack restaurant, which opened on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, saw groups of people lining up to get their orders.

Haaretz also reported that since the beginning of the war, Shake Shack had "remained almost completely silent about its expansion plans in Israel, and nothing was published on any of its social media platforms after the original announcement."

She added that the opening process remained “deliberately modest,” and that the Israeli company’s leadership declined repeated requests for an interview.

Online, many social media users denounced the opening.

Commenting on the opening of a branch of the Shake Shack restaurant, one of the commentators on a social networking site said, “The Shake Shack restaurant was opened in Israel during the time of genocide. Close its branches in the Arab world!”

Another said: “If you are in Kuwait, try the amazing Kuwaiti burger restaurant “Fat Cap” and you will thank me later.”

Others responded to the ad by saying they would "never come back again," while another sarcastically said, "Shake Shack burgers are mixed with the blood of starving Gaza children."

Boycott campaigns

Many citizens of Islamic and Arab countries have launched campaigns to boycott products that support the Israeli occupation or those that carry the nationality of the countries supporting it in response to the war on the Gaza Strip.

Since October 7, many consumers in these countries have been boycotting American products because of their support for Israel, and among those companies is Starbucks, which recently announced the elimination of 2,000 jobs in the Middle East.

One source stated that the boycott campaigns led to difficulties in the working conditions of many companies that support the occupation.

Source: Middle East Eye