When RTÉ said on Thursday it would refuse to take part in next year‘s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel was involved, the broadcaster joined a growing list of businesses and people looking at ways to protest at Israel’s war on Gaza by way of boycott.
Calls for people to speak with their wallets and turn away from Israeli companies or those doing businesses in the country have grown louder in recent months.
And there are many such businesses.
Giant multinationals including Procter & Gamble, Danone, Unilever, Nestlé, Pepsi, Heineken, Coca Cola, Mondalez and many tech companies along with thousands of other big and small operators have a footprint in Israel.
RM Block
Many are starting to see for the first time just how deep that footprint is.
The labyrinthine structure of global commerce makes it difficult, if not impossible, for consumers, to boycott everything made by companies with a strong and financially lucrative relationship with Israel. The boycotts are being taken up as part of a protest against the military offensive undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli offensive has so far killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, injured more than 150,000 and left the Palestinian territory of Gaza in ruins. The war was triggered by the October 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, operating out of Gaza, that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and the kidnapping of 250 hostages.
Earlier this week The Irish Times asked users of X – a social media platform not known for its nuanced and balanced debates – if they were taking any steps to avoid products from Israel or from companies with links to it.
Many answered yes but many others, including a huge volume of anonymised accounts, responded with a dose of whataboutery.
What about the phone you’re using? What about the search engines you use? What about the software on your computer? What about your computer?
Steve Wall, the frontman of rock band The Stunning, actor and long-time supporter of Palestinian rights, says he has had enough of the whataboutery. He is trying to boycott as many brands with a link to Israel as he can to “penalise the country for committing genocide”.
But he is also aware of the limitations of his actions.
“I know it’s probably impossible to know everything that has ties to Israel but everyone can still do their own little bit,” he says.
Earlier this year, Wall was prescribed statins to keep his cholesterol in check and when he filled his first prescription he noticed the pills were made by Teva Pharmaceuticals.
“I remembered that name appearing on boycott lists so I looked them up and they are an Israeli company,” he says.
“I called the pharmacy – a big chain – and asked if I could change my prescription to another brand and when they asked why I said I was boycotting whatever I can from Israel. She told me she was getting five or 10 similar calls every day. They swapped out the drug and gave me one that was made in Clonmel instead.”
There are other more mainstream products he actively boycotts.
“I never go near any Coca-Cola products including the likes of River Rock water and will actively keep an eye out for products of Israeli origin when I am in the supermarket,” he says, referring to the drinks company the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement says should be boycotted over its ties to Israel.
Like many, Wall has downloaded the “No Thanks” app, which first appeared almost two years ago carrying a large list of companies and brands consumers might consider boycotting because of Israeli links.
The app has become a key tool for the BDS movement that targets Israel economically for the actions of its government and its military in Gaza.
Along with a list of companies and brands to boycott, the app allows users to scan barcodes to find out more about the relationship particular products have with Israel.
[ TCD’s Israeli boycott draws criticism from Ireland’s Jewish communityOpens in new window ]
Many will already know that Sudocrem, the antiseptic cream invented in a chemist’s shop in Cabra, north Dublin, a century ago – is one such product, having long since been sold to Teva, while SodaStream is another well-known business with a deep footprint in Israel.
But there are many, many other products and brands that fall foul of the app that consumers might not be so conscious of.
Domestos bleach, for example, is owned by Unilever. The app notes that when Ben & Jerry’s ice cream decided to withdraw from Israel in protest at the killing of tens of thousands of civilians by the IDF, Unilever “sold off the Israeli distribution rights ... to circumvent the decision and to force Ben & Jerry’s brand name to continue selling in Israel”.
Pot Noodle is another Unilever brand on the boycott list, as is Hellman’s Mayonaise, Knorr stock cubes and Magnum ice creams.
Tropicana juices are on the list too because the brand is owned by Pepsi, which bought SodaStream and has other significant investments in Israeli companies. Doritos is another Pepsi-owned product on the list.
All Colgate-Palmolive products are there because the brand is “selling to an Israeli distributor operating in Israel”.
The Dolmio brand of pasta sauces is owned by Mars, which will, the site says, “support Israeli start-ups and the formation of companies and will work together with leading Israeli academic institutions”.
Uncle Ben’s rice is listed as it also is owned by Mars, along with Extra chewing gum and many chocolates including, but not limited to, M&Ms, Maltesers, Snickers bars and, of course, Mars Bars.
Cadbury’s products are there because the company is owned by Mondelez International, which has invested in Israeli food tech enterprises. Other Mondelez brands that feature include Oreo Cookies, Toblerones and Ritz Crackers.
Heineken – and all the products made by the beer giant – is on the list because of the company’s moves to invest in the Israeli drinks sector.
Coca-Cola and the brands it owns, including the Costa coffee chain, are included because of the company’s significant investments in Israel and in occupied Palestinian territories.
Pampers and Gillette razors, brands owned by Procter & Gamble, which has offices in Tel Aviv, feature, as do Colgate toothpastes and Listerine mouthwashes.
Given the dizzying array of products that face boycott calls, a level of despair among consumers trying to know what to do would be understandable.
“It’s so complicated,” says Hayley O’Connor from Kildare, who has been trying to boycott as many products from or linked to Israel as she can for more than a year.
“But the thing is, doing something is better than doing nothing and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying.”
She has three children, including one in nappies.
“I was like: what am I going to do without Sudocrem? But we get by,” she says.
She doesn’t buy Diet Cokes nor does she go to Costa Coffee, “which is next door to where I work”, she says.
She says she struggled with trying to find runners for her children, and her clothes shopping habits have changed.
She has moved away from high-street clothes retailers that have links to Israel and has started trying to source locally produced and ethically sourced clothes.
“The last time I was up in Dublin I sought out more sustainable local choices and it was great,” she says.
The bottom line for O’Connor is that turning her back on some products has helped her feel to some degree empowered.
“If you think you’re powerless and you think you can do nothing, that’s a really dangerous place for the public to be,” she says.
“Everybody can do something and differences can be made.”
