"May I buy Zionist Coke for a homeless man?" The responsa literature of BDS ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Monday, July 15, 2024

"May I buy Zionist Coke for a homeless man?" The responsa literature of BDS

Anti-Israelism has all the trappings of a cult.

It demands total loyalty, it restricts what activities are allowed for its members, it limits communications with outsiders, and those who dare leave the cult are subjected to vicious attacks on social media.

But the anti-Israel cults, specifically BDS, also has an intricate faux-legal framework where members who aspire to faithfully adhere to the rules are faced with problems that require higher guidance.

The BDS group on Reddit is filled with what can only be called an insane version of responsa (or, perhaps, fatwa) literature, where people who are caught up in the excitement of being members of the cult find themselves with real world questions on how to properly boycott products that are Israeli, Israel-adjacent, third- and fourth- degree related to Israel, rumored to support Israel or owned by Jews and assumed to be supporting Israel.

Here are some of the questions being asked:

BDS friendly face washes?

Do we need to boycott despicable me 4?

Have any popular YouTubers shown either support for Palestine or made a statement?
I ask because I think it’s just as bad to be silent on the genocide as it is to be complicit. Especially at this point, 9 months in when they’ve had nearly a year to educate themselves. I unfollowed some of my favorite YouTube creators like Fundie Fridays, and Plumbella because I couldn’t stand how chipper and ignorant of a genocide they were, pretending like nothing was happening and refusing to even acknowledge it

Target and Cvs
Can i still shop at Target and Cvs if their shareholders are blackrock and vanguard? Those stores are the ones i buy from when i need hygiene products, hair products, school supplies etc.

an Ai that doesn't support Israel
hey guys, since chatgpt and gemini are supporting Israel, I wonder what are eome alternatives that doesn't support Israel ??

My boss implemented Monday.com 🥲
I didn’t know they were headquartered in “Israel” until last month, when my boss was already finalizing details to go with Monday.com for work management. We were using Google Sheets before, and although Google is also bad, Monday.com is next level since it’s an Israeli company. For functionality it works better than Google Sheets for sure, so when my boss asked me if I liked it, I couldn’t say otherwise, other than that I haven’t really used it and will use it first before I say for sure. I’m planning to really focus on the cons of it and at the same time look for alternatives to recommend to my boss. I wonder if anyone here knows/ have used any good work management tools that would be a better alternative? Thank you!!

is boycotting a company that collabed with a company whose investors’ investors are problematic reasonable?
sorry for the convoluted title, but i was just wondering how far i should go? i recently purchased makeup from a company that as far as i know has no ties to israel (i can still cancel the order). i noticed that they did a collab with a character tomie from junji ito and some of their products have images of the character, thought i did not purchase any products from the collab. upon further notice i saw that they had the copyright of a publishing company, asahi shimbun, and i looked into the company’s investors. the investors themselves seemed to be fine, but i noticed that one of the investors, tv asahi, had vanguard listed as one of their shareholders on fintel, but not on the site or wikipedia as i believe the shares were acquired very recently, between may 19-june 27 2024. is this something to be concerned about, considering i doubt any of my money is going toward vanguard? i have quite a bit of time to cancel the order.

Where to buy kn95s/n95 masks aside from Amazon?
I have a chronic illness and am higher risk (asthma), and I need to be masking frequently. I just recently went to the ER because I got a viral infection that gave me a bad asthma flare up. However, as much I need to be masking for my health I so far have not found any reliable places to buy kn95/n95 masks except Amazon. Since I started boycotting against Israel, I haven't used Amazon at all. I live in the United States. Please suggest some ethical places to buys masks!

Is it okay to buy from brands that sell their products in Israel?
I want to buy shoes from Crocs, but I noticed they sell their products in Israel. Should I be boycotting brands that sell their products in Israel?

Old Eurovision Songs
I used to be a massive eurovision fan before I knew what was happening in the first place. When I say that, I mean I genuinely had no idea, mind I was in my early to mid teens at the time (18 now).
But, fastforward to today, a lot of my playlists consist of these old eurovision songs. I feel awful when I get a music craving for them, because the question that’s always on my mind is whether i’m supporting the EBU and people who choose to partake in it. I don’t listen to israeli entries, as far as I can remember I never really liked their entries as songs (barring Netta, but that swiftly exited my playlist once I found out what was happening).
My question is, is this true? Because if it is it’s a lot of my childhood music taste gone, but it may be necessary

Michael's craft store?
A few weeks ago I saw a tiktok about Michael's crafts is pro-israel but now I can't find anything about their involvement. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I feel like I am going nuts but also worrying they may have scrubbed the Internet for PR. I don't want to be misguided in my BDS efforts so I appreciate any info available, thank you!

Is buying Coke once okay if it’s for a good reason?
So I’ve been hard boycotting for a while now to where it’s just a part of my life. When I get groceries, checking the No Thanks app is a ritual for every single item I buy. I know Coke is on the list and a brand that has connections to “Israel” but yesterday I bought one.
I was on my lunch from a new job and walked to the nearby dollar store. There was a houseless man sitting on the curb outside the shop and he looked really unwell. When I walked by he looked up and asked “Could you buy me a cold soda? Please?” And the thing is, we’re on the brink of a heat wave, the man had every reason to want a cold drink, so I said “If my card works, absolutely.” I’m not going to say no to someone asking for help when it comes to food to drink or anything like that.
So I went inside and grabbed a water for myself and looked in the refrigerated drinks area near the registers and it was only cola products in all of them. I felt bad and stood there for a second but there was no way I could go back out without a cold drink for him, he looked overheated, dehydrated, and exhausted. So I grabbed a cola and for the first time in however long I can’t remember, I bought it. Went out and gave it to him but I can’t stop thinking about it.
What’s done is done, but do you think that was okay? I really can’t stop thinking about it, I’m trying so hard to do everything I can to support the cause but that felt like a big slip up and I didn’t know what else to do. I feel like helping people in need is part of the actions we need to take to help bring in the new world we’re trying to create, but idk how much that means anything if I did it using a product that’s actively helping along a genocide. :/

Should I quit McDonald's?
I started working at McDonald's a couple weeks ago, but now I'm not sure if I should stay. Backstory is, I quit my last job in November and started to look for another one (which I was not very motivated to do). I applied to several places, but none of them would take me. My parents suggested McDonald's, but I kept putting it off because I knew something was going on with McDonald's and Israel (I didn't understand what at first, but I do now). I didn't want to say the real reason, though, because I wasn't sure what they would say (though looking back, maybe they would have understood). As for why I could stay, as I mentioned, I haven't had a lot of luck with applying for jobs, so I'm not sure how successful looking for another one would be. I can't be without a job either as I need to pay for at least part of this semester's tuition. I tried to justify it for myself as well by saying that maybe things would get better now that McDonald's had bought out the Israeli franchise, but I'm not sure if that cuts it. Above all else, if I quit after just a few weeks, that would bring about conversations with my parents I'd rather not have right now. I know I probably should've fixed this a long time ago, but what should I do now?

These are people who are looking for a meaning in life, and they are choosing hating "Zionists" as their religion.

Maybe someone should go on the forum and mention that 9% of Reddit is owned by Sam Altman (OpenAI founder) so their using Reddit helps support someone that BDS considers a Zionist. Therefore they should all leave Reddit.

When reading this idiocy, one just wants to slap some sense into these people.