Malaysian Minister leads boycott as Gaza onslaught continues

Ismail Sabri, Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry has announced that he will be boycotting HSBC bank by cancelling his credit card in response to the bank’s closure of pro-Palestinian activists’ accounts in the UK. The minister posted a picture of his credit card cut up alongside a letter to the banks CEO on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile a boycott of McDonald’s across Malaysia is taking its toll on the restaurants. Palestinian activists have called for a boycott of the fast-food chain across Malaysia in response to the company’s alleged links to support for Israel during its military campaign on Gaza. An owner of two McDonald’s franchises, Syed Hussain Tuan Embong, reported that business was down by 80 per cent. Embong told the Malaysian daily newspaper, Sinar Harian, workers at his franchises were wanting to quit their jobs.

McDonald’s Malaysia released an advertisement in response to the calls for boycott saying that it did not channel its profits to support any campaigns that were political or conflict-related in nature. McDonald’s Malaysia employs 12,000 staff of which 85 per cent are Muslim.