Images

UK-based Gaza Cola donates all profits to rebuilding Palestinian maternity ward

UK-based Gaza Cola donates all profits to rebuilding Palestinian maternity ward

As supporters of Palestine boycott Coca-Cola, other brands are providing alternatives.
26 Nov, 2024

As supporters of Palestine continue to boycott brands associated with the Israeli aggression in Gaza, a London-based man has developed an alternative to Coca-Cola — Gaza Cola.

Osama Qashoo, who founded Hiba Express, a fast-food chain serving Middle Eastern food, created Gaza Cola in November 2023. According to Al Jazeera, Qashoo highlighted that the drink, which is made from typical cola ingredients and has a sweet and acidic taste similar to Coca-Cola, “is totally different from the formula that Coke uses”.

He said all profits from the drink are being donated towards rebuilding the maternity ward of the al-Karama Hospital, northwest of Gaza City.

Qashoo started by getting Hiba Express and other local Palestinian restaurants to carry Gaza Cola. The drink is also sold by Muslim retailers such as Manchester-based Al Aqsa, which recently ran out of stock, according to the store’s manager, Mohammed Hussain. Since early August, 500,000 cans of Gaza Cola have been sold, according to Al Jazeera.

“These companies that fuel this genocide, when you hit them in the most important place, which is the revenue stream, it definitely makes a lot of difference and makes them think,” Qashoo said. Gaza Cola, he adds, is “going to build a boycott movement” that will hit Coke financially.

According to the publication, family played a role in Qashoo’s drive to launch Gaza Cola. Today, he does not know the whereabouts of his adopted 17-year-old son in the West Bank, who was shot in the head in June.

“I have family in Gaza who have been decimated,” he said. “I’ve got friends — I don’t know where they are.”

Since October 7, 2023, boycotts of Coca-Cola were renewed because the brand operates facilities in the Israeli Atarot industrial settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. According to Reuters, many consumers shunning Coca-Cola and PepsiCo cite US support of Israel over decades, including in the current, ongoing conflict with Hamas.

Coca-Cola and its rival PepsiCo both also face boycotts in Pakistan where consumers are opting for local brands. Restaurants, Karachi’s private schools association and university students have all taken part in anti-Coca-Cola actions, eroding goodwill built through sponsorship of Coke Studio, Reuters reported.

Big soda companies are no strangers to pressure among the Muslim world’s hundreds of millions of consumers. After Coca-Cola opened a factory in Israel in the 1960s, it was hit by an Arab League boycott that lasted until the early 1990s and benefited Pepsi for years in the Middle East.

Coca-Cola still lags behind Pepsi’s market share in Egypt and Pakistan, according to market research firm GlobalData. PepsiCo, which entered Israel in the early 1990s, itself faced boycotts when it purchased Israel’s SodaStream for $3.2 billion in 2018.

Comments

Prateek Nov 26, 2024 12:51pm
Well, if the boycott movement was indeed so grave, why isn't Pakistan's national cricket team terminating their sponsorship contract with PepsiCo? You can't selectively boycott and express double standards...
Recommend
M.Saeed Nov 26, 2024 01:28pm
All avenues must be explored and employed to harm Israel's economy, which is being used to expand Israel to Greater Israel by eliminating Palestinian rights.
Recommend
mimi sur Nov 26, 2024 02:46pm
But why this is limited to a drink ? Google, You tube, Twitter, Instagram, Oracle and what not . Hypocrisy is the picture of lavish lunch or dinner in the picture. You enjoy lavish lunch and dinner, where people of Gaza have nothing to survive.
Recommend
Laila Nov 26, 2024 06:21pm
@M. Saeed According to calculations made by Washington Post, the US has given Israel $6.5 billion since the war of Oct 7, 2023. How does one stop that flow of money which accounts for the majority funding of Israel. Tax dollars which implicates everybody, companies and individuals alike, who pay taxes to the American government.
Recommend
Laila Nov 26, 2024 06:32pm
With almost 2 million Pakistanis in the UK why did nobody think of either doing a UK franchise of Pakistani brand Cola (Next Cola) or invent their own brand of Cola to compete with the big brands considering the market of millions of Muslims in UK? Entrepreneurship seems lost on Pakistanis. It's incredible how a refugee in his adulthood came to the UK, invented a fastfood chain, a new brand of Cola, makes documentaries of his people and is a social activist. Something Pakistanis abroad could learn from. Talk about being a story of success. Amazing.
Recommend
Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Nov 26, 2024 06:33pm
Great move and excellent news. Keep it up and hang on tough.
Recommend
Laila Nov 26, 2024 06:37pm
If the maternity ward or any infrastructure is built now, Israel will turn into ruins. So wait with the building. But save for later and designate the money, which will be in the millions. When the war ends, which it will soon, the rebuilding can start.
Recommend
saeed siddiqui Nov 26, 2024 07:18pm
Boycott social media & Phones. Boycotting is business & Bullying tactics.
Recommend
Anonymouseee Nov 26, 2024 10:27pm
Please Send some to USA as well.
Recommend
Shahveer Nov 27, 2024 11:11am
Height of hypocrisy. WhatsApp, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple all support Israel. Why not stop using them too?
Recommend
Ahmed Nov 27, 2024 12:22pm
@Laila There are Pakistanis who have tech companies in the UK. Just because there is no cola brand it doesn't mean entrepreneurship is lost on the Pakistanis. The article is about helping Palestinians. Nothing to do with what you have written.
Recommend
Ahmed Nov 27, 2024 01:13pm
As for not building it now: how will the mothers be treated at the present moment? Whatever your solution, it will be called a maternity ward.
Recommend