Boycotting is really easy. Very very easy.

Historically, it’s one of the most accessible forms of protest that we have. The term dates back to Ireland in the 1880s, when a land agent (think the original landlord) tried to evict workers and when a bad harvest happened, it was suggested that the entire town shun him. An Irish leader suggested this social shunning instead of violence and by the end of it the mailman refused to deliver him mail.

Fast forward to the 1891 Iranian Tobacco Boycott, American boycotts of British goods during the revolution (like the Boston Tea Party), the Chinese Exclusion Acts, boycotts of South Africa to protest apartheid and perhaps most notably boycotts stemming from Rosa Park’s arrest which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It’s clear that historically, not only is boycotting relevant and powerful, it can bring about actual change.

Something all boycotts have in common is the relationship between capital, consumerism, and activism. A boycott is a voluntary choice made by a consumer to withhold their capital (typically money) from a particular business, person or cause to communicate a disagreement with what those targeted by a boycott support. Not spending money somewhere is withholding your capital, which is one of the only ways we as consumers have power. And aside from personal taste and brand loyalty, supporting people and causes we agree with is where activism takes place.

Since Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian’s has entered western consciousness after Hamas’s retaliation aginst Israel in Oct. 2023, the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement has received more attention. The BDS movement calls for targeted boycotts of an array of companies that directly or indirectly support Israel. Since Oct. 2023, their list has become more publicized and discussed. Nationwide Gaza Solidarity Encampments on university campuses during 2024 were primarily calling for their universities to divest investments from Israel and any companies or organizations that were complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. The BDS movement’s focus on divesting was foundational in this.

While we individually cannot free Palestine, boycotting is one of the only things we can do. Working class, average people cannot single handedly stop weapons delivery to Israel, although valiant attempts have been made in the U.S. and Europe. Despite 59% of survey takers holding an unfavorable opinion of the Israeli government, and a record low 32% of respondents in a different survey saying they support Israel’s military action, the U.S. government’s blind and gleeful $21.7 billion support of the genocidal regime continues amid the U.S. State Department having credible allegations of human rights violations and the majority of Americans disagreeing.

It’s easy to feel like there is nothing we can do that will tangibly support Palestinian’s when the situation is laid out. But that is why boycotting is important. It’s accessible, and most importantly it’s easy.

It would be lengthy to break down every single type of boycott and every company on a list, though BDS has already done that better than I could.

Between the priority targets of Disney+ and Chevron, and the grassroots boycotts that target McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut, someone’s failure to boycott these companies makes them a bad person.

The first thing to establish is that boycotts do work. So often, the perspective is that “I’m just one person, and me getting McDonald’s isn’t going to do anything important.” But this is simply not true.

In Washington D.C., an Israeli owned food chain closed the last two of its locations after the D.C. area’s targeted, grassroots efforts. McDonald’s, which is the target of BDS-supported boycotts due to their free meals donated to the IOF (Israeli Occupational Force, also commonly referred to as the Israeli Defense Force (IDF)), saw sales fall after news of their decision spread, leading to calls for a boycott. When people choose not to spend their money somewhere, companies feel it. Couple this with the numerous historical examples of boycotting being effective, and it’s clear the arguments against boycotting are weak.

In September, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel from his show after he made comments on the death of Charlie Kirk. Disney is ABC’s parent company, and Disney+ became the target of mass cancellations via social media campaign boycotts. They lost 3 million subscribers and thus lost profits. And within a week, he was back on the air. While BDS has called for a Disney+ boycott with limited success, it’s clear that when people care, they’re willing to do something about it.

This begs the question, why have people not boycotted McDonalds? Or Disney+ before this? Why do people still get gas at Chevron or order Domino’s?

They are by no means the only options. If someone lives in a food desert, then we can have that conversation. But the whataboutism used to justify spending money at businesses that are complicit in genocide will not change the fact that it is morally wrong to do so.

Just don’t eat at McDonald’s. It’s simple. Just do not do it.

Plan your morning better, leave your house earlier or manage your time in such a way that allows you to eat somewhere else.

Cancel your Disney+ subscription. Find other ways to watch the media you enjoy, seek out content elsewhere or better yet, read a book.

If you’ve eaten at McDonald’s in the past two years, you care more about your comfort and convenience than you do the more than 50,000 children murdered by Israel. If you’ve gotten gas at Chevron when other gas stations are nearby, you do not care about the 640,000+ people suffering from famine in Gaza.

If this is the first you’re hearing of boycotts, you 1) need to read the news more and 2) need to stop giving money to companies on the boycott list. There is a moral obligation to inform yourself on an active genocide and an even stonger moral obligation to do what you can to not be complicit in it.

BDS, activists and most importantly Palestinians aren’t asking you to redo the Boston Tea Party or take part in sit-in’s. They’re asking you to be a thoughtful consumer.

If you can’t do that, then you’re not a good person.