People are boycotting Starbucks because of their response to the Israel-Palestine war. On November 12, the Starbucks Work Union tweeted that they supported Palestine. The corporate company of Starbucks then had this tweet deleted, stating the company wanted to take a neutral stance on the situation and tried suing the union. Due to this response, supporters of Palestine started boycotting Starbucks.
Before Israel had become an official state, the area was originally called Palestine. In 1948 when Israel formed, it began to colonize Palestine. After World War ll, Jewish settlers lived in Palestine, a holy site for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Slowly, the Israeli government let people move into Palestine illegally, removing Palestinian families and replacing them with Israelis. The colonization continued for years, creating a sense of division between the two groups. From 1948 to 2023, the Israeli government would hold Palestinians from Hamas in the West Bank, monitoring and imprisoning them. It was October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel in retaliation.
Senior Zainab Ali, who is participating in the Starbucks boycott, reposts awareness content on social media about the Israel and Palestine conflict, including information about Starbucks and boycotting other companies supporting Israel.
“A couple of my friends have reached out and said that they wanted to know more about [the boycotting] because they weren’t sure,” Ali said. “All of it is just kind of confusing. I filled in the gaps that [people] didn’t know because a lot of the time, you’ll see biased reporting and it’s hard to find credible resources to study on [the conflict].”
While Ali is consistent with sharing posts about Israel and Palestine on her Instagram account, she’s stated that she doesn’t go out of her way to inform people who support Starbucks about the conflict.
“I think [people who continue to support Starbucks] might be coming from a place of ignorance,” Ali said. “It could also just be that they don’t want to lose their favorite drink, or they don’t really care about the conflict because they think it’s just politics.”
Some students weren’t aware of the Israel and Palestine conflict. For example, senior Brynna Mabray said she had no idea about Palestine or the Starbucks boycott.
“I’m the type of person that doesn’t follow the news that often,” Mabray said. “I feel if [major news publications] were on more platforms that [younger] people actually use, it would be better for letting people get unbiased information from an unbiased source.”
When Mabray was informed about the Israel and Palestine conflict, she chose to remain neutral on the situation.
“Everybody has the right to their own opinion, even the littlest thing you do is going to offend somebody,” Mabray said. “Just try your best to have good intentions — don’t actively do something just because people are hating on it.”
Senior Vittoria Amell has worked at Starbucks since July of 2021, and is aware of Starbucks’ stance on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Amell fully supports the Starbucks boycott, and said that getting less business makes her job easier.
“Some people have been [saying] ‘Well you work there, you’re supporting it,’ but we’re not giving money to [Starbucks] – they’re more giving money to us,” Amell said. “I feel like there’s not much I can do about it because I need a job to get money for college.”
While Starbucks has received less business, Amell said she’s still witnessed many people, including students, purchasing drinks during her shifts. While Ali and Amell do not support the actions of Starbucks supporters, they said that it’s not their position to tell others what to do.
“It’s not like I’m against [Starbucks supporters],” Amell said. “I feel like some people are just very out of touch when it comes to [Israel and Palestine].”
