Lawyers for McDonald’s in Malaysia sought a settlement on Monday from the boycott Israel movement, a lawyer said, after the fast-food chain brought a US$1.27 million lawsuit against the consumer campaign group for alleging links between it and Israel’s armed forces.
Gerbang Alaf Restaurants, the Malaysian licence holder of the fast-food chain, claimed the Malaysian arm of the boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) movement against Israel, incited the public to boycott its business, leading to losses of income, job cuts and other damage amounting to 6 million ringgit (US$1.27 million).
Monday’s mediation hearing at a Kuala Lumpur court was the first hearing in an attempt to reach a deal to avoid a long civil suit filed against BDS Malaysia last December.
BDS Malaysia, through its lawyer Reza Hassan, said he could not elaborate on the details of the ongoing mediation, but added the process was “very positive”.
“It hinges on one or two things only,” Reza said, stressing that the details were confidential.
Representatives from McDonald’s, meanwhile, did not speak to the press. Both parties will reconvene on April 30 to continue the discussion.
But in its writ of summons, McDonald’s Malaysia stated that the movement had slandered its business and implied it had profited from the assault on Palestinians and conspired with Israel.
This came after social media was flooded with videos of McDonald’s in Israel donating free food to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion into Israeli territory.
That raid killed over 1,200 Israelis, with scores more taken hostage into Gaza.
In retaliation, the IDF has obliterated most of Gaza in the last five months, killing over 30,000 people – most of them civilians, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health authority.
The United Nations says vast numbers of Palestinians are on the brink of starvation if aid continues to be blocked by Israel.
In a statement last Wednesday, the boycott movement sarcastically thanked the fast-food chain for the lawsuit, saying it backfired by publicising BDS Malaysia’s campaigns to boycott Israel and companies linked to Israel.
“McDonald’s lawsuit against Malaysia’s BDS has made Malaysians and consumers worldwide angrier towards McDonald’s,” the movement said.
McDonald’s Malaysia instead asserted that it did not “contribute to, support or engage in any political or religious conflict anywhere in the world”, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Unperturbed by the denial, supporters of BDS Malaysia carried effigies of dead Palestinian children outside the courthouse and chanted “no free meal for Israel” alongside placards denouncing McDonald’s and the ongoing genocide.
Norshiha Saidin from a welfare group aligned with the boycott movement said it was nonsensical for McDonald’s to sue the movement and the boycotting Malaysian public in general.
“We decide on how to spend our money and no corporation can force us on how to spend our money,” Norshiha told This Week in Asia.
The boycott against Israel-affiliated businesses in Malaysia has affected more than just the American fast-food icon.
The local Starbucks chain has reported a 38 per cent year-on-year decline in revenue – falling to 182.55 million ringgit in the October-December quarter, compared to 295.32 million ringgit during the same period in 2022.
The pleas of its business mogul owner, Vincent Tan, for the public to stop their boycott were instead met with ridicule as the public rejected the call to end one of the few direct actions available to Muslim Malaysians enraged by the Israeli assault on Gaza.
The latest item to be thrust onto the boycott list are Israeli dates, a popular food eaten to break fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan, after Malaysians were warned over the alleged mislabelling of the sweet fruits imported from Israel for local sale.
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Malaysia’s leader condemns Israel over Gaza strikes as thousands attend pro-Palestinian rally
Malaysia’s leader condemns Israel over Gaza strikes as thousands attend pro-Palestinian rally
Last December, Malaysia announced an immediate ban on vessels owned by Israeli shipping giant Zim from docking and unloading cargo at its ports, along with any ship bearing the Israeli flag.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim last week said he made “no apologies” for maintaining diplomatic links with Hamas despite Western pressure to denounce the militant group.
Anwar, who is seeking the approval of an increasingly vocal Muslim electorate, has been among the loudest critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza.