Sawt Falasteen - Starbucks Middle East franchise cuts jobs amid Gaza war

Alshaya Group, which owns the rights to operate Starbucks in the Middle East, did not specify if the cause for the layoffs was a regional boycott campaign since October that has targeted products consumers believe support Israel.

But in an emailed statement to AFP, an Alshaya spokesperson blamed the decision on "the continually challenging trading conditions over the last six months."

"We have taken the sad and very difficult decision to reduce the number of colleagues in our Starbucks MENA stores," the spokesperson said, declining to elaborate on the size of the cuts.

The boycott movement spearheaded by pro-Palestinian activists has targeted major Western brands, such as Starbucks and McDonald's, in protest at their alleged support for Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.

Regional franchises have pushed back against these accusations, with McDonald's pledging funds to relief efforts in Gaza and denying links to franchises in Israel.

Starbucks, too, has attempted to distance itself from the allegations, with its stores in Doha deploying fact sheets to counter what it calls "misinformation."

The war in Gaza was triggered by the surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel launched its retaliatory offensive, aimed at destroying Hamas, which has killed at least 30,717 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Q.Bulbul--SF-PST