The Israel-Hamas War may have claimed millions of innocent lives in Palestine, a new brand of soft drinks has gained popularity in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and even elsewhere since the beginning of the war (on October 7, 2023)!

There were calls for an international boycott of soft drink brands, like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, immediately after the outbreak of war in Gaza. Since then, many have stopped consuming these global brands in Palestine. The Palestinians have turned to a local brand, called Chat Cola, in boycott of Israel-linked products.

The cans of Chat Cola sold in the local market look similar to the two global brands. “The demand for (Chat Cola) increased since the war began because of the boycott,” said Fahed Arar, the owner of the local brand that has a manufacturing facility in the occupied West Bank town of Salfit. He admitted that the public anger over Israeli atrocities in Gaza helped his product to capture the local market, stressing that his business was in good shape mainly because of the ongoing war. The Palestinians have also stopped consuming other such products. Julien, a restaurateur in the city of Ramallah, has stocked his Coca-Cola branded fridge with the local alternative since the beginning of the war. Supermarket Manager Mahmud Sidr stated: “We noticed an increase in sales of Arab and Palestinian products that do not support Israel.”

It may be noted that the Arab World perceives Coca-Cola and Pepsi as too American. Hence, people in the region have refused to consume these products. The US not only provides enormous military assistance to Israel, but also backs the Zionist Regime’s devastating military campaign in Gaza. A manager of the National Beverage Company, a Palestinian firm bottling Coca-Cola in the Palestinian territories, informed AFP that there was up to 80% decline in the drink’s sales to foreign-named chains. In neighbouring Jordan, Dubai-based conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim Group, a franchisee of French retail giant Carrefour, has shut down all its operations after activists called for a boycott!

Ibrahim al-Qadi, head of the Palestinian Economy Ministry’s Consumer Protection Department, has confirmed that 300 tonnes of Israeli products have been destroyed over the past three months (after their expiration date). However, he admitted that it would not be possible for Palestine to boycott all Israeli products as the Palestinian economy was dependent on them to some extent. “There is a willingness to boycott if the Palestinian producers can produce equivalently good quality and price,” insisted Raja Khalidi, the head of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute. He added: “There has never been the political support for buying local products that there is now, so it is a good moment for other entrepreneurs to start up.“

Meanwhile, Arar has claimed that his employees are proud of developing a quality Palestinian product. Hence, all the staff at Chat Cola‘s Salfit factory wear sweaters, emblazoned with the words Palestinian taste in Arabic and the Palestinian flag. Arar, who opened the factory in 2019, has decided to open a new one in Jordan in order to meet the growing international demand and to avoid the complications of operating the existing factory in the occupied West Bank. He has slammed the Israeli authorities for holding up a large shipment of raw materials at the Jordanian border, prompting Chat Cola to shut down one of its production lines for more than a month.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das