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Economy

BDS Judenfrei: Israel boycott proponents claim victory after Carrefour rebrands in some Arab states

2025-10-04

[IsraelTimes] French multinational changes name of stores to HyperMax in several countries, earning applause of BDS, though move hasn’t been explicitly linked to boycott calls

The Carrefour name has disappeared from storefronts in some Arab countries, with pro-Paleostinian shoppers and activists hailing the shift as a victory for their boycott of brands perceived as being linked to Israel. The French multinational has long been in the crosshairs of Paleostinian supporters, who accuse it of selling products from Israeli settlements and partnering with Israeli firms operating there.

The group has denied operating in the settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal by most of the international community.

But in the past year Majid Al Futtaim, the group that operates the Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, has closed the brand’s supermarkets in Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. It has since reopened under the new name HyperMax, citing "growing demand for locally sourced products and services in a number of our markets." It did not explicitly link the rebranding to the boycotts, and experts are divided over how much of a role they played in the closures.

But pro-Paleostinian shoppers have nonetheless claimed victory.

’BROADER SCALING DOWN’
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign,

…a PLO project to isolate Israel, begun because the Arabs proved unable to defeat Israel via war or two Intifadas of terror attacks. Even though BDS also has not defeated Israel, the Jew haters of the world have gleefully entered into the spirit of the thing…

which began two decades ago, has accused Carrefour of "profiting from Israel’s illegal settlements" through its franchise partnership with Israeli retailer Electra Consumer Products and its subsidiary, supermarket chain Yenot Bitan. According to BDS, Yenot Bitan has stores in settlements and both firms are "directly involved in a number of projects fostering Israel’s illegal settlements enterprise."

It has accused Carrefour-Israel of supporting Israeli soldiers "partaking in the unfolding genocide of Paleostinians in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
with gifts of personal packages."

It also demanded that Carrefour stop selling products from the settlements.

Carrefour chief executive Alexandre Bompard has said previously that no Carrefour stores are operating in West Bank settlements and has denied having any "partisan or political ties."

The Israeli government accuses supporters of the BDS movement of being antisemitic.

Of course — that’s the point.

In Bahrain, which has ties to Israel, activists have held weekly protests and vigils for Gaza, where Israeli forces have been fighting against Hamas
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
since the terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel. According to a HyperMax employee in the country, foot traffic slowed noticeably after the start of the Gaza war, when the store was still operating under the Carrefour brand.

"Almost all our customers stopped coming," he said, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. Since the rebranding, "I am seeing more customers coming in, particularly Bahrainis and Arabs."

For M.R. Raghu, who heads the Marmore Mena Intelligence consulting firm, the Carrefour closures are part of a "broader scaling down of operations by the retailer, amid weakening financial health" as its stores also shut elsewhere in the world.

And Majid Al Futtaim has maintained Carrefour franchises elsewhere in the Middle East, including in the Gulf’s two biggest economies, Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
and the United Arab Emirates.

’BRAND CONCERNS’
Ghassan Nasaif, a pro-Paleostinian activist in Bahrain, called Majid Al Futtaim’s decision a "great victory" for the movement, saying "this is exactly what we were asking" from the group.

Majid Al Futtaim saw its retail revenue, which includes Carrefour, drop 10 percent last year following a four percent decline in 2023, with the company citing "geopolitical tensions" affecting consumer sentiment, among other factors. In the first half of this year, retail revenues have softened one percent from the same period a year earlier.

"Consumer demand is currently strong and growing across the Gulf, and the fact that the regional franchise holder, MAF, has been rebranding many Carrefour stores as HyperMax does seem to imply a link to boycott-related brand concerns," according to Justin Alexander, director of Khalij Economics, a consulting firm.

For Musab al-Otaibi, an activist in Kuwait, people have "no other weapon than boycotts" as the corpse count climbs in Gaza.

Bader al-Saif, an assistant professor at Kuwait University, called the Carrefour closures "a microcosm of a bigger story."

"It shows that the voices of people in the Gulf do matter... that there are ways to express yourself even if you’re in a restricted space," he said.

Posted by:trailing wife

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