McDonald’s Israel’s announcement of free meals for Israeli military has sparked backlash from franchises in Arab countries.
However, McDonald’s franchises in the Middle East are on the opposing sides of the conflict, with branches in Muslim countries disavowing a decision by McDonald’s Israel to provide free meals to the Israeli military.
Franchises in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Turkey have distanced themselves from their Israeli counterpart and collectively pledged more than $3m to support Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza.
RTEUrdu, a Turkish news outlet, claimed on X that the Qatari government has shut down all McDonald’s restaurants in the country.
قطر نے میکڈونلڈز کے تمام ریستوران بند کرنے کا حکم دے دیا۔ pic.twitter.com/Fqmaa6SK3z
— RTEUrdu (@RTEUrdu) November 15, 2023
The assertion, however, cannot be substantiated because the outlet did not provide the source. The outlet website is not operational either.
It should be noted that since announcing its support for the Israeli army, McDonald’s Israel has changed its Instagram account to “private” following a backlash from consumers in Arab and Muslim countries.
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While McDonald’s ranks among the most iconic American brands, most of its restaurants worldwide are locally owned and operated.
McDonald’s is not the first global brand to be drawn into controversy due to its stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
United Kingdom-based multinational Unilever came under fire from investors last year for failing to disclose that its ice cream brand subsidiary Ben and Jerry’s had decided to boycott Israeli-occupied territory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2021.
