As the Palestine-Israel war reaches its second month since October 7th, 12,000 Palestinians have died. This time, the whole world sees the ongoing genocide and are protesting against it. One of which takes the form of boycott. Many countries are taking part in this large-scale boycott against a number of selected brands and corporations which are either American or believed to have some form of affiliation with Israel. One in particular, Mcdonald's.
We are seeing the Mcdonald's boycott movement taking place not only in Malaysia, but in numerous other countries as well including Indonesia, America, England, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and many more. Although this movement is nothing new and that it comes and go, this time it was triggered by a statement given by Mcdonald's Israel on social media claiming that they provided over 40,000 free meals to the Israeli soldiers during the war. This did not sit well with just about every human who has a heart and opposes the ethnic cleansing carried out by the Jewish nation.
If you ask each person the reason they participate in this movement, you will get a lot of different answers. Some do it to protest against Israel, some do it for health concerns, some even just do a one-off as a minimal effort. Although it hasn't been proven that Mcdonald's Corporation itself is directly or indirectly providing support to Israel financially, most people join the movement simply to take a stab at America for supporting Israel's cause.
My issue is with the citizens of Malaysia who join this movement. If prompted why, their answers would either be "Mcdonald's is owned by the Jews" or "Mcdonald's is funding Israel". I'm not gonna lie. I, too, participate in this movement. It's great to be able to stand for something and that it probably makes a bit of a difference. But at least know why you do it. Educate yourself about it. When you understand it enough, it will make more sense. It will feel more impactful and satisfying.
It only takes a little bit of research to find that Mcdonald's is not owned by the Jews nor are they funding Israel in any way. You need to understand that Mcdonald's is not a person. It is a corporation, an entity. A giant company that is listed on the stock exchange in New York. Its owners are comprised of millions of shareholders (including muslims) and these owners change all the time. Financial reports are posted and updated regularly on their website. These include their revenue and expenditure. Whatever they spend on can be found there for all to see. Should they decide to fund Israel for whatever reason, surely everyone would know.
The Corporation's business model is franchising. Companies in other countries open-up more branches and pay the corporation royalties. On top of this, each independent branch or company is free to conduct its own CSR programs and other activities. This was what Mcdonald's Israel did when they decided to provide meals for the IDF. Mcdonald's Malaysia donated 1 million ringgit in aid of the Palestinians. Before that, they have been providing food and drinks to mosques nationwide on Fridays. They also helped a lot of orphanages in the country financially. So each country has their own company that runs these branches. They have the right to organize their own activities and programs. Mcdonald's Malaysia used to be run by Gerbang Alaf Restaurants Sdn Bhd but later taken over by Lionhorn Pte Ltd, a subsidiary company owned by Reza Group of Saudi Arabia.
Royalties are paid to Mcdonald's Corporation in America, not to the American government. The royalties they receive from across the globe are used to pay their employees and cover operational costs. If they channel anything at all to the American government, that would be taxes. But that's about it. Whether Mcdonald's pay their taxes, or even if Mcdonald's vanished from existence, the American government would probably still assist and support Israel out of their existing budget.
The notion that Mcdonald's is owned by the Jews, or Mcdonald's funds Israel is simply not true. I am no expert in this field but perhaps this also applies to the plethora of other brands which were also claimed to be Israeli or supporters of Israel. Perhaps there really are some underlying transactions going on between these brands and Israel under the table or perhaps there are none. It just so happens that a lot of Jews hold top positions in countless corporations and brands. But so do many other people of various ethnicities. There are lots of Jews who lead the economy, who are strong industry players, pioneers at the forefront of technology advancement. This doesn't mean that they control the game and monopolize every single industry. That's simply a conspiracy theory. Even the Chinese have a strong grip in business and a prominent presence in the world's economy. No one's accusing them of taking over the world.
All this to say that boycotting Mcdonald's does not affect the Palestine-Israel war. It affects the American government very little to none in terms of taxes. The amount of royalties Mcdonald's Corporation receives would considerably drop a bit and nothing more. The ones affected the most are the local companies, branch owners and their employees. We see cases where a few branches have shut down and many employees lost their jobs. This is very unfortunate. However, boycotting Mcdonald's does send a clear message to the American Government. The message is that the whole world sees and knows what they did, and we stand together against it.
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