BDS is Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts of Israeli products, withdrawal of investments from Israel, and sanctions on the country [Getty]
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has partnered with the smartphone app Boycat to increase public awareness about companies targeted by the movement in a bid to enhance public participation in its consumer-focused campaigns.
Boycat, an app created by Yemeni-Sri Lankan developer Adil Abbuthalha, allows users to scan barcodes to identify a company’s level of compliance with the consumer boycott of Israel. It also provides users with alternatives to products deemed to be non-compliant.
“Now, the Boycat app makes it easier than ever to correctly identify BDS priority targets. Through the app users can check these regularly updated BDS targets, scan products, learn about companies, build your ethical shopping profile, join local teams and directly support our priority campaigns, ensuring your purchasing decisions contribute to a larger movement for justice,” the BDS movement said in a post on its website.
The BDS movement described Boycat’s tiering system, which groups brands based on their level of involvement with Israel, as a “key element” of the new partnership.
Launched in January, Boycat says it has over one million users and has credited itself with diverting millions of dollars in revenue away from brands linked to Israel.
Boycat founder Abbuthalha said that he was inspired to create the app in the first few months of Israel’s latest war on Gaza.
“It was in November, Nov. 14 [2023] … We witnessed one month of atrocities in Gaza itself. We saw Israeli bombing like crazy, destroying the cities and everything. And we felt so helpless at that time. That one night on Nov. 14, I had a dream. It’s very cheesy, but I had a dream where I was arguing with someone, why they are buying Starbucks. And they basically just said ‘there’s no alternative and I don’t know’ that’s all they said,” Abbuthalha told Anadolu earlier this year.
“And I woke up and I just had everything clicked. I just texted the right people and I was like, we need to make a BDS application, make it easy. So we started building in December and then from there we launched in January,” he said.
Launched in 2005, BDS is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts of Israeli products, withdrawal of investments from Israel, and sanctions on the country, in response to Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank, war and siege on Gaza, and oppression of the Palestinian people.
Consumer boycotts of Israel have received increased attention since Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023, with many popular international brands having noted significant losses.
Starbucks, KFC and McDonalds are among the brands to have been hit by consumer boycotts over alleged links to Israel and its military.
BDS advocates for a boycott of a “select few strategic targets” to maximise impact.
