Morocco’s pro-Palestine boycott group, BDS Morocco, is gearing up to protest against the LabelVie Group and its Carrefour franchise in the Kingdom, for the French retailer’s support of illegal Israeli settlements.
This move comes despite local authorities having previously banned such forms of protest, after BDS’ protest against the retailer turned violent.
BDS Morocco, part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, urged individuals and groups to pressure LabelVie to terminate its partnership with Carrefour.
The controversy stems from Carrefour’s collaboration with Electra Consumer Products and its subsidiary Yenot Bitan, both operating from illegal Israeli settlements.
“In 2022, Carrefour Group entered into a partnership agreement with Electra Consumer Products and its branch Yenot Bitan, both involved in supporting and sustaining systematic settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories,” says BDS Morocco in a statement announcing the protest campaign.
These settlements, named illegal by both NGOs and the United Nations, have been linked to severe human rights abuses against Palestinians, including restrictions on freedom of movement and access to natural resources.
Electra is listed in the UN database of firms involved in settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The statement further added that “Carrefour opened fifty branches within illegal settlments under the Israeli settlment system attended by Benjamin Netanyahu and MP of economy Nir Barkat from the extreme right-wing government seeking to eradicate the Palestinian people and seize their lands.”
The pro-Palestinian group noted that Carrefour provided financial support to the occupation army since the beginning of the brutal aggression on Gaza.
The retailer also donated thousands of food parcels and messages of support upon entering the Gaza strip facing siege, hunger, thirst, and deprivationof medicine and essential life resources.
The BDS movement has consistently called for an international boycott of Carrefour, citing alleged involvement in “war crimes committed by the Israeli regime, settler-colonialism, and apartheid over the Palestinian people.”
LabelVie, having signed a franchise contract with Carrefour Partenariat International (CPI) in 2019, established over 70 Carrefour stores across Morocco.
BDS Morocco’s primary demand is for LabelVie to sever ties with Carrefour, urging the French retailer to end its partnerships with the two Israeli companies involved in settlements.
Under the hashtag ‘boycott is resistance,’ BDS Morocco outlined various actions for Moroccans to take, including boycotting, posting about it, and besieging Carrefour stores in their cities, delivering letters of protest to store administrations.
“Recognizing that our actions are a form of protest, and a right guaranteed to every citizen under the law, we will persist in our struggle until we achieve the desired goals of our campaign,” affirmed BDS Morocco.
The group is planning protests on December 30-31 outside Carrefour supermarkets in Morocco, despite local authorities’ previous ban on such demonstrations.
In June, police forces reportedly dispersed BDS members and pro-Palestine groups in front of a Carrefour store in Casablanca, resulting in minor injuries among the protesters, according to a report by the Moroccan Front Against Normalization.
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