The Jordanian movement increases momentum with time, and the call for a boycott is at the forefront of this movement (Reuters)

Amman -

Boycott campaigns are pursuing foreign companies and products that support the Israeli occupation wherever they go in Jordan. Citizens see them as an effective weapon, and the scope of the popular response is expanding in a steady and unprecedented manner that almost reaches the level of consensus in a practical response to the continuing massacres against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. For the sixth month in a row.

A number of major store owners were keen to place signs reading: “Be careful...a boycotted product...support the local product,” in prominent places to urge Jordanians to adhere to campaigns for foreign products supporting the occupation. The response came quickly in the form of party and student initiatives to intensify the boycott of products. The United States of America is a partner and a key party in supporting the aggression against Gaza. This also applies, to varying degrees, to countries such as Britain, France, and Germany.

Campaigns calling for support of local products (Al Jazeera)

Boycott in support of the resistance

The economist, Amer Al-Shoubaki, believes - with cautious optimism - that the current boycott of foreign products that support the occupation at the present time is not like other boycotts, as its term is longer and its impact is greater, and it carries the slogan: “The boycott in support of the resistance.”

He said in an interview with "Al Jazeera Net" that the major companies that support the occupation or are linked to it in one way or another announced their loss, such as the American company McDonald's, and others announced their lack of relationship with the Israeli occupation for fear of the boycott campaigns that targeted it.

But Al-Shoubaki says that the campaign to boycott foreign goods that support the occupation had a positive impact on a number of emerging local companies in Jordan, which benefited from the Jordanians’ boycott of foreign companies and turned towards local products, and were able to compensate citizens for many of the foreign products that the country imports from companies. Global support for the Israeli occupation.

Regarding the numbers and losses incurred by foreign companies supporting Israel in Jordan, Al-Shobaki confirmed that there is extreme secrecy about this matter regarding the losses of foreign companies associated with supporting the Israeli occupation in Jordan.

He added, however, that it is clearly visible that the branches of these companies are empty of employees and customers alike. Recently, an international chain of restaurants and cafes in Jordan and foreign companies laid off their Jordanian employees as a result of the huge losses they suffered as a result of the continuation of the boycott in the past six months.

Part of Jordan's activities against the war on Gaza (Reuters)

A legitimate boycott

The Jordanian economic expert pointed out that the boycott weapon has become effective with the continuation of the aggression against the Gaza Strip, and the future is promising for this, because the culture of boycott has become global and legal, especially after the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal, which affirmed that “boycotting Israeli goods is legitimate.”

According to activists in the Jordanian Boycott Movement (BDS), the national boycott campaign for goods supporting Israel has so far contributed to the closure of 4 branches of the French Carrefour store chain, which is one of the brands included in the boycott, while some indications indicate the possibility of an increase in the number of closed branches during the period. In the coming period, while purchases of restaurants that were announced to be boycotted decreased, according to suppliers who confirmed that they were severely affected by the boycott.

They pointed out that many owners of companies that support the Israeli occupation have recently resorted to changing their brand name in an attempt to avoid the losses they have suffered, after their sales declined to unprecedented levels, especially since they are incurring huge tax and operational losses.

The Jordanian Labor Observatory (a civil society foundation) confirmed in its report that more than 15,000 workers in various sectors in Jordan are at risk of being laid off from work or having their salaries reduced due to boycott campaigns. Despite these numbers, the Observatory stressed the importance of the boycott in the context of popular interaction with support. The Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Popular consensus

According to the head of the Restaurant Owners Syndicate, Raed Hamada, the boycott campaigns in Jordan included 3 levels: The first: restaurants bearing international names, the second: international brands, and the third: some food items sold in shops.

He added in a statement, “Tourist restaurants carrying international brands stopped operating by 95-98% after they were completely boycotted, while sales of soft drink companies decreased by up to 85%.”

Jordanian demonstrations against the Israeli aggression on Gaza (Reuters)

In a local poll for Nissan newspaper, published on November 14, 2023, 97.8% expressed their belief that the boycott campaign affects the economy of countries supporting the Israeli occupation, compared to 2.2% who did not believe that, while 78.4% responded that they would continue the boycott campaign even after The end of the war on Gaza, and 2.2% responded that they would not continue the boycott, while 19.4% responded with the possibility (maybe) of continuing it.

94% confirmed that they would continue to support and use the local product after the end of the war on Gaza, compared to 6% who answered that they would not continue.

The Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan announced that its latest opinion poll indicated the commitment of 93% of Jordanians to boycott Israeli and American products and those produced by countries that support the occupation of Gaza, and that about 95% of the boycotters turned towards alternative, locally made products, while it saw about 72% of Jordanians said that these campaigns do not affect the national economy.

The Jordanian boycott campaigns included products: medicines, food, beverages, detergents, restaurants, etc., and while some began to talk about the gap that the boycott will leave in the labor market, given that many workers in these establishments have lost their jobs or are threatened to do so, a number of local companies announced their Allocating 100 vacant positions for every employee who works in any company that supports the occupation, or is thinking of leaving his job, or has recently left it due to the war on Gaza.

All of this comes at a time when more than 50 Sharia scholars in Jordan recently issued a fatwa stipulating the necessity of an economic boycott of Israel, and forbade “practicing all economic activities with the enemy that include importing or consuming their goods or exporting to them, or selling or renting real estate to them, or carrying out business.” Brokering or promoting their goods, or participating in establishing companies and factories, or working in them, or exchanging services with them, such as tourism and other economic activities that help the Zionist enemy and its supporters and empower them in Muslim countries.”

Source: Al Jazeera