By Rahima Kawo, Central High School
After October 7, 2023, many of my peers began boycotting businesses that directly or indirectly support Israel.
I would walk into school and see many students carrying drinks and coffee from Yellow Bird, a local alternative to Starbucks. It was a relief to see people my age taking a stand and supporting businesses that aligned with their values. Many also used their social media to raise awareness about what was happening in Palestine.
But over time, the energy faded. People stopped posting on social media. It was as if the time around October 7 motivated massive empathy toward the cause but then it just faded. I started noticing more food items from companies that funded Israel in the hallways and classrooms. I would sit in class and smell the grease of this food, and it made me sick. It was as if boycotting, and all that empathy had just become another short-lived trend.
One day, a friend of mine tried to hide a Starbucks cup from me and whispered, “don’t tell anyone.” I felt disgusted. My first thought was: how hypocritical.
How can people be neutral or look away in the face of a genocide that has lasted two years? I have read and watched horrifying accounts of life in Gaza: children beheaded, dismembered bodies, burned family members, rapes, torture, and massacres. These things happened. Why is the world silent when it comes to Palestine?
And, why is it so hard for people to boycott companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s which openly support? How can anyone choose the convenience of a coffee over human life?
CBS News has reported that as of October 2025, more than 20,000 children have been killed in the war. This began after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and led to Israel’s war on Gaza and the West Bank. Many Gazans have died from malnutrition caused by food blockades and lack of medical supplies. Others have been killed by missiles and bombs, funded in part by corporations.
Money fuels injustice. Withholding it through divestment and boycotting can be an effective, nonviolent way to pressure corporations to act responsibly.
I believe that Minnesotan youth should step up, not step back, their commitment to boycotts. Some of my peers believe that their boycotting does not matter, because they are just one person boycotting. But history proves otherwise.
Puma, for example, ended its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association (IFA), after five years of global boycott campaigns. Starbucks has closed several locations near me, in part due to sustained consumer pressure. McDonald’s has faced financial losses and public backlash after giving free meals to the IDF, according to Reuters. In April 2024, BBC reported that the company is now trying to distance itself from these claims to regain customers.
Boycotts work. They don’t mean giving up everything you love. There are many local business alternatives, like Yellow Bird, that allow us to meet our needs and hold on to our values.
We, the youth, have power. We can shape the future, not just with our votes, but with our money. We can start this by looking around and investing in local change.
Rahima worked with Northside Achievement Zone Foundation and Corporate Relations Officer Bianca Jones and Minnesota Reformer Reporter Madi McVan to complete her story. This story was produced as part of ThreeSixty Journalism’s 2025 Opinion and Commentary Workshop for youth, in partnership with Sahan Journal and MinnPost.
