CAIRO – On a recent evening in Cairo, a worker cleaned tables in an empty McDonald’s restaurant. Branches of other Western fast-food chains in the Egyptian capital also appeared deserted.

All have been hit by a largely spontaneous, grassroots boycott campaign over Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since the surprise Hamas attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Western brands are feeling the impact in Egypt and Jordan, and there are signs the campaign is spreading in some other Arab countries, including Kuwait and Morocco. Participation has been uneven, with only minor effects seen in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Some of companies the campaign is directed at are perceived to have taken pro-Israeli stances, and some are alleged to have financial ties to Israel or investments there.

As the campaign has started to spread, boycott calls circulated on social media have expanded to list dozens of companies and products, prompting shoppers to shift to local alternatives.

In Egypt, where there is little chance of people taking to the streets because of security restrictions, some see the boycott as the best or only way to make their voices heard.

“I feel that even if I know this will not have a massive impact on the war, then this is the least we can do as citizens of different nations so we don’t feel like our hands are covered in blood,” 31-year-old Cairo resident Reham Hamed, who is boycotting U.S. fast food chains and some cleaning products, told Reuters.

Workers work at an empty Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant as a result of the boycott of Western brands in Egypt due to the Israeli war on Gaza, November 20. – REUTERS

In Jordan, pro-boycott residents sometimes enter McDonald’s and Starbucks branches to encourage scarce customers to take their business elsewhere. Videos have also circulated of what appear to be Israeli troops washing clothes with well-known detergent brands which viewers are urged to boycott.

“No one is buying these products,” Ahmad al-Zaro told Reuters. Al-Zaro is a cashier at a large supermarket in the capital Amman where customers were choosing local brands instead.

In Kuwait City on Tuesday evening, a tour of seven branches of Starbucks, McDonald’s and KFC found them nearly empty.

In Rabat, the capital of Morocco, a worker at a Starbucks branch said the number of customers had dropped off significantly this week. The worker and the company gave no figures.

McDonald’s Corp said in a statement last month that it was “dismayed” by disinformation regarding its position on the conflict and that its doors were open to all. Its Egyptian franchise has underlined its Egyptian ownership and pledged 20 million Egyptian pounds ($650,000) in aid to Gaza.

Asked for comment by Reuters, Starbucks referred to a statement on its website about its operations in the Middle East that was updated in October. The statement said the company was a non-political organization and dismissed rumors that it had provided support to the Israeli government or army. Starbucks, which earlier this month reported record revenues for the fourth quarter, said it had nothing further to share on its business.

Other Western companies did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment.

A worker cleans a table in an empty McDonald’s restaurant in Cairo, Egypt due to the Israeli war on Gaza, on November 20. – REUTERS

“Unprecedented reaction”

The boycott campaigns have spread in countries where pro-Palestinian sentiment has traditionally been strong. Egypt and Jordan made peace with Israel decades ago, but those deals did not lead to a popular rapprochement.

The protests also reflect a groundswell of anger over an Israeli invasion that is more destructive than previous offensives, causing a humanitarian crisis and killing 14,500 civilians, according to authorities in Gaza.

Israel said about 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, and that about 240 were taken hostage.

Previous boycott campaigns in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, had less impact, including those advocated by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“The scale of the aggression against the Gaza strip is unprecedented,” said Hossam Mahmoud, a member of BDS Egypt. “Therefore, the reaction, whether on the Arab street or even internationally, is unprecedented.”

Some campaigners have singled out Starbucks for suing its workers’ union over a post on the Israeli war on Gaza, and McDonald’s after its Israeli franchise said it gave free meals to Israeli military personnel.

An employee at McDonald’s corporate offices in Egypt who asked not to be named said the Egyptian franchise’s October and November sales fell by at least 70 percent compared to the same months last year.

“We are struggling to cover our own expenses during this time,” the employee told Reuters. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the figures the employee provided.

Sameh El Sadat, an Egyptian politician and co-founder of TBS Holding, a supplier to Starbucks and McDonald’s, said he had noticed a drop or slowdown of about 50 percent in demand from his clients.

– Reuters. Edited for space and style.