Why the Protests for Palestine are Mostly Useless
There's a better way, but it requires some strategic thinking... and a little honesty.
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One of our subscribers asked me a question today about the protests taking place around the world for the current events in Palestine.
This is how the conversation went…
(Some details have been edited to respect privacy and to correct spelling grammatical errors that are normal in a text conversation but may not read well in an article)
“What do you think of those protests for Gaza happening in the UK? Should we attend this thing at all?”
“I think they are mostly useless.”
“So many messages in my local homeschooling group these days. Also asking people to write to MP and like/dislike some videos.
“What is a better way to act as a Muslim in this situation?”
“You have to do things that affect something they care about.
“They don't care about Muslims. Or Palestinians. Or their children.
“So why do we show or even talk about dead babies? Are we begging the murderer to see his victim?? It's so dumb.”
Pause a second and really think about what I’m saying here.
Are the lives of Muslims so cheap that we need to show their mutilated bodies over and over again?
Even if it was with the intention to shake the viewer into seeing the reality and lend their support… what is the usual reaction?
We need to be honest.
The conversation continues:
“And every time we lose a piece of our dignity.
“So what do they care about? Easy one is money.
“They do everything for money. Including supporting Israel.
“You think they care about Jews? They hate Jews too.
“It's for money or access to money. Votes. Funding. Etc”
This is something we either don’t understand or refuse to address.
With a few exceptions, EVERYONE hates Israel to some extent. But they hate us more…
But this isn’t about hurting us because they hate us.
It’s about what motivates them to take any action, whatever that may be…
Hate us or love us, this doesn’t influence their decisions. Money does.
And their feelings about Israel over Muslims is trumped by what they can gain from either side of the conflict.
They make more money supporting Israel than standing for what’s right.
Let’s continue:
“So you need to figure out how your actions affect the things they care about.
Where do you spend your money? Etc.”
“So like they boycotting Israel brands is OK?”
“But that doesn't mean just find Israeli companies and boycott them. They have billions of customers. Will they even know if you stopped drinking coke?
“They don't even know that you drink coke!”
“Oh 😅
“So we don’t even need to boycott them right?”
Pause. Yes, boycotting is good. But we’re talking about thousands of deaths every year. We need to be honest and ask whether the boycotting—as we commonly think of it—is even changing anything…
“Please elaborate on this.”
“So boycotting coke by not drinking it isn't really that effective.
“And companies like coke don't have one office. Or one factory.
“There are regional headquarters in every country. With their own directors and managers.
“Distributors and warehouses.
“Someone not drinking a coke in London doesn't affect the coke warehouse in Manchester. Get it?
“So everyone needs to work on their locality.
“That means you can find businesses, schools, anything... doesn't even need to be Israeli or supporting Israel or even apolitical. It just needs to be a place where you could be reasonably targeted as a customer.”
Please take a moment to think about the places you already frequent. Also places that want you as a customer but you haven’t bought from them yet.
Do this thought exercise. Even write it down. It will help you internalise what I’m about to say next…
“And ask them what their policy on Palestine is.”
“Oh, ask them directly?”
“Yes.
“If they don't have one or have a policy that doesn't condemn Israel... then you tell them you and your network will boycott their business until they change it.
“And you make sure you do it.
“Everyone is in groups. Everyone knows about protests. So if they can go out and protest then they can work as a group to put pressure on companies to condemn Israel as a matter of policy.”
Everyone is on Facebook, in chat groups, Instagram…
You have friends and colleagues you share reels with all day. That aunt that forwards every single image and video.
It’s time to put your network to work.
“So do you mean we do need to boycott, just boycott more specifically??”
“Boycott and more... but it has to have a demand: policy change.”
You see, more often than not boycotting is an emotional thing (more on this later). The goal behind the boycott isn’t communicated well enough. Certainly not to the ones being boycotted.
“If they do change their policy or already have a good policy then you do the opposite... you tell them you will actively promote them and encourage everyone in your network to be their customers.”
And this… THIS is the key thing we are missing.
Boycotting isn’t supposed to be collective punishment in response to collective punishment. Read on…
“You show them: here are the businesses that don't have a policy. Here are the ones that do. And these will get promoted. And these will get boycotted until they join the rest.
“Businesses don't care about people but they will care about profits.”
“Think you can write an article about it, then I can share it in shaa Allah. 👍”
Yup…
“If you're really smart then you will make a local business forum or think tank that has a membership of businesses that are adopting the pro Palestine policy.
“And they promote each other.”
We usually think of boycotting as our refusal to buy products as an individual will hurt Israel financially. Sure… but how much do you spend on coke!?
We need leverage. A force multiplier. Something to make our tiny influence snowball into something massive…
“If you have 20 shops that stop buying coke from the local supplier... what will the supplier do?
“They will also have to adopt the policy or lose business too.
“10 suppliers... and the regional distributor takes a real hit.”
“Because from what I observe in the group, people just tell others to boycott this or that brand but don't follow up with anything.”
“100%.
“The distributor needs to answer to his boss.
“The boss needs to answer to his boss. You see?
“1000 people in Manchester and 1000 in London and 1000 in Paris stop drinking coke... would they even notice? No.
“And how on earth would they know you're not drinking let alone WHY??
“So boycotting needs to be strategic.
“That's just coke.
“There are a hundred others that can be affected.
“When people talk about boycotting they are making a moral or even a judgemental statement rather than a strategic one.”
“Yes.”
True or not?
“Now... for those who still want to feel good about themselves with a good old protest then at least be strategic with your protesting.
“Screaming at a building and wearing a black and white scarf and waving a flag and playing music doesn't change policy.”
I’m old enough to remember the last 20 protests at least. You know, the ones that everyone shared on their social media saying:
“Look at how many people turned up!”
“Change is coming!”
“People are waking up!”
Well if they indeed woke up why did thousands of Palestinians get killed in the next round of ethnic cleansing?
And what was the response that time? Another massive protest.
Great.
I remember several years ago attending a massive protest in London. Yes, that one.
After a couple of hours of walking we decided to sit on a stone wall and watch the protest as they continued on their march. At least one hour passed and the crowd was still passing us.
That’s how big the protest was.
Nothing changed.
Israel has killed thousands more since. With the same impunity. And more fantastically massive protests took place.
It’s like a nightmare version of Groundhogs Day we’re all doomed to live through.
Yes, more people became aware. Yes, more people joined the cause.
That’s not the issue. The issue is: what do we do next?
I also remember seeing people at a more recent protest go from posting status updates of their marching and screaming “free free Palestine” to posting selfies at their post protest meal at McDonald’s.
Let that sink in.
“But why not use that energy to physically affect the local shops that do not condemn Israel? Block their delivery truck. Give leaflets to their customers.
“Liberating Palestine isn't a one afternoon shouting with your mates then going for a happy meal kind of task.
“It's a daily task with small and simple things you need to do consistently to build momentum.”
“It needs lots of effort, I don't think many people can or will actually do that. But just boycotting is easy.”
“But they can go for a day out protesting?
“If it takes effort then they shouldn't say ‘free free Palestine’.
“And they need to admit that their protesting doesn't work [in the way that they think] but they do it because it's easy.”
And here’s the final point:
“Just looking at the messages in the group, it is more like a field trip to me, like some experiences, that’s it 🤷🏻♀️”
“Exactly.”
“They might truly believe it works 🤷🏻♀️”
“They should show evidence it worked.”
“They showed like the MP replied emails etc.
“But they also know that they are just merely saying that.”
“And then what?”
“And they are quite satisfied with the large number presented there 🤷🏻♀️”
“That's exactly why…
“Personal satisfaction.”
They then pasted a message from the group that illustrated this clearly. That it was just a day out to feed one’s ego.
Now, I'm not saying that’s the only reason people go out and protest.
Of course people care. And they sincerely want to make a difference.
All I'm suggesting is we’ve tried to do the same thing for a long time now. We have the energy and the communication networks to promote and attend protests.
Can we also put all that to work for something more strategic?