City College of New York Students for Justice in Palestine group encourages boycotts on 'genocide-funding corporate coffee chains’
The City College of New York’s Students for Justice in Palestine have incentivized their followers to boycott coffee shops such as Starbucks, which they claim support genocide.
The City College of New York’s Students for Justice in Palestine have posted a list of businesses that they urge students to boycott, while prioritizing and marketing in favor of others.
In an Instagram post, the CCNY SJP announced a “Bilal’s Boycott Campaign,” which is aimed to protest coffee shops and cafe’s in New York City, such as: Starbucks, Marshak Cafe, Dear Mama, and NAC Cafe.
The group’s targeting of Starbucks comes after months of pro-Palestinian activists claiming that the coffee chain is supportive of Israel. Starbucks has refuted this claim since 2014, in a Q&A section of the company’s website which states that the company does not provide financial support to Israel.
The group outlines that the reason for the boycott of the numerous breakfast locations in the city is due to how “CCNY and CUNY have not only ignored our demands to divest from genocide, but have escalated their complicity this semester to force out our Alumni-owned cafe on campus to replace it with a genocide-funding corporate coffee chain.”
The SJP stated that the boycott is due to how Nestle and Starbucks products are being offered to students.
The group also suggest that students visit other breakfast cafes and coffee shops in the city that are participating in the group’s organized protests, such as: Kaafi by Chaiguy, Qahwah House, Avrilillies, and the Halal Breakfast Cart.
The SJP has also provided incentivizes for students to take part in the boycott by claiming that if students say to cashiers at any of the listed breakfast locations that the “SJP sent me,” any individual would be given a “boycott card.” This card will make it so that after every seven purchases at the listed locations, the 8th item an individual purchases will be free.
One of the participating locations in the boycott, Qahwah House, is located near Columbia University, where student protesters have voiced their criticisms and acted in retaliation against the school for ties to Israel.
The Students for Justice in Palestine outlined that they will “[C]ontinue to demand that CUNY and CCNY divest,” adding that the group “[W]ill continue to boycott these cafes until their drinks are not mixed with Palestinian blood.”
