Hi friends,
I had a disaster of a day at the last PSC march. Let me tell you the story and see if you can spot where I went wrong.
I was in London for the day for the march, but I was majorly unprepared. My phone had died, my feet hurt and I had forgotten my trusty reusable water bottle. So after the march, in my dehydrated and frustrated state, I popped into a corner shop, heading straight for the coolers. I remembered Evian was owned by Danone who invest in Israel, and Coca-Cola and Pepsi were also off the cards. But tucked in the corner was a bottle of Buxton, which I paired with some Juicy Fruit chewing gum and a packet of Doritos. The shop didn’t take cash so I paid on my Tesco credit card.
On the walk back to the station I thought I would pass by Boots to freshen up. I remembered Dove, Lynx, Nivea and Sure were boycott so I settled on a Mitchum roll-on and an Impulse spray.
I found myself being drawn to the sales in the makeup section. I knew most makeup was boycott. Even though they’re all different brands, chances are they’re owned by L’Oreal or Estee Lauder. But Haus Labs was also on sale and I knew it was a celebrity brand so it definitely wasn’t owned by L’Oreal or Estee Lauder. They don’t stock Haus Labs near me so it was the perfect opportunity to find my shades. I couldn’t help myself, I picked something up. On the way to the checkout they were also running a discount on lip balms, which I knew would help me feel less dry. I knew Vaseline was boycott so I opted for Burt’s Bees.
It was difficult staying BDS-safe but I didn’t want to undo all the hard work of everyone that had been marching all day.
I grabbed a coffee for the train journey home. Pret and Starbucks were obviously off limits so I popped into Costa and jumped on the next train home.
Did you notice the mistake I made?
What if I said every single product I bought was on the BDS boycott list or zionist owned!!
Here’s the breakdown:
Buxton – owned by Nestle
Juicy Fruit – all Wrigley’s gum is owned by Mars
Doritos – owned by Pepsi
Tesco Bank – owned by Barclays which funds Israeli weapons
Mitchum – owned by Revlon
Impulse – owned by Unilever
Burt’s Bees – sources ingredients in Israel
Haus Labs – owned by Lady Gaga (a zionist)
Costa – owned by Coca-Cola
It’s impossible for most of us to shop entirely boycott-safe, but being knowledgeable is a powerful skill to help us do better. Had I known where I was going wrong, I could have made very small changes to avoid picking boycott items.
Here’s what I should have done:
Buxton → Highland Spring
Juicy Fruit → Mentos, Trident
Doritos → Off-brand tortilla chip
Tesco Bank → Co-op Bank
Mitchum → Fussy, Salt of the Earth
Impulse → So…?, Layering Lab
Burt’s Bees → Carmex
Haus Labs → Soap & Glory, Milani, Wet n Wild
Costa → Cafe Nero, Independent coffee shops
Brands will not always tell you who they are owned by. It’s very important that you do your own research, so if you’re going shopping make sure you’ve charged your phone so you can search anything you put in your basket!
There are apps like the No Thanks App or Boycat, or websites like The Witness that will take all the work out of it, just enter the brand to find out if you’re being boycott-safe.
| Summer Success Summary: The Co-op will implement boycott of Israeli goods 100,000+ people protest the government over Pal Action F35 Day of Action Peterborough City Council divest from Israeli weapons |
Next Steps:
- Have you signed our petition to stop the Arms Fair coming to Farnborough?
- Have you sent our template emails to your MP?
- Have you sent the most recent Humanti Project template email to your MP?
- Will we see you at the next national march?
| This Summer’s Recs: Documentary: The Settlers – Louis Theroux Book: Perfect Victims – Mohammed el-Kurd Short read: A Human But From Gaza Song: YAFA – Lana Lubany Shop: Hirbawi App: No Thanks IOS Android |
Free Palestine,
NHPSC
northhampshirepsc.com 