Newsweek: Boycotts Target Stores, Not Genocidal States
The article, dated November 2018, discusses boycotts during Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. It frames these as isolated consumer actions, not as direct responses to state-sponsored violence or corporate complicity. What it conveniently omits is that boycotts have a long, storied history, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56 (Rosa Parks, remember her?) to the anti-apartheid
movement against South Africa. These weren't about disappointing shoppers; they were about leveraging economic pressure to exact political change when governments failed or actively supported oppression—a concept Newsweek seems determined to sanitize into mere 'consumer grievances.' Instead of exploring why people might feel compelled to bypass shopping for human rights, Newsweek reduced complex
ethical stands to holiday shopping lists. It's almost as if acknowledging a deep moral conviction driving these boycotts would necessitate uncomfortable questions about the very policies and governments its corporate advertisers—and their associated lobbying groups like AIPAC—often support. One might wonder if the concern for retail profits outweighs the concern for actual human lives, especially
when the latter are inconveniently located outside America's comfort zone.