Palestinian media and Palestinian rights groups are calling for a boycott of Pizza Hut. The uproar comes after an a photo of a grinning Israeli soldier surfaced on Instagram, showing him posed with at least a couple of dozen Pizza Hut boxes…
Critics assume the boxes were filled with pizzas. And many assume those pies were donated to front-line IDF forces by the chain’s Israeli division. The post has expired, and the photo is gone. Except for archived copies such as the one shown above.
Media outlets around the world have also reposted the photo.
More than ironic
Boycott boosters say it’s more than ironic that the IDF is eating (possibly) free pizza while Israel refuses to let food or medical aid into Gaza.Hamas and other Palestinian spokespeople have reported that people are starving there.
Not the first time
Pizza Hut was boycotted back in 2017, after a Pizza Hut Israel ad appeared suggesting that Palestinian prisoners were being served Pizza in their cells. The prisoners were, in fact, on a hunger strike at the time.
The Hut deleted the ad and claimed it had fired the ad agency that created it.
The hashtag #boycott_pizzahut was coined at that time, and may start showing up again now.
Not the only western resto
Starbucks was also targeted for a boycott after it came down hard on unionized workers in its employ. The unions posted social media messages supporting the Palestinians, and Starbucks sued them. The boycott was just one element of the so-called ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ by unions, which raged last November across Israel in support to protest work and pay conditions.
What now?
As of the publication of the Arizona Republic story that clued me in to the current boycott call, the Hut had nor responded to media invitations to tell its side of the story. Nor did the resto chain confirm or deny that the pizzas in the now in famous photo were provided to IDF solders for free.
It’s up to individuals…
Whether they support the Pizza Hut Boycott, of course. I personally haven’t ordered anything from the Hut for almost a decade.
Disclaimer: I have not ordered from any chain Pizza joint during that window. I have my own, go-to neighbourhood source. San Marino Pizza is family-owned and operated. And they make a pie exactly the way I like it! Sure it costs a little more…
But delivery Pizza at any price has become a special-occasion indulgence, with rising food costs. So the occasional splurge cannot be condemned. Not for me, you or anybody. It’s stress relief from the prevailing world of basic, monotonous – but affordable – menus at home, and ever-looming fear that the economy is getting even worse…
~ Maggie J.