Update

Protests Around the World Urge New PUMA CEO to End Complicity in Israeli Apartheid

Palestinian rights supporters delivered a letter to PUMA’s CEO from players of the Palestinian football club Balata, whose player 16-year-old Saeed Odeh was gunned down by Israeli soldiers in May 2021 as PUMA shareholders met to talk about profits.

On Saturday, January 21, 2023, protests across the world for the #BoycottPUMA Global Day of Action sent a strong message to PUMA’s new CEO.

From Europe to Asia to Oceania, protests were held at PUMA-branded shops and retailers, where Palestinian rights supporters delivered a letter to PUMA’s CEO from players of the Palestinian football club Balata.

Balata is one of 235 Palestinian sports teams calling to pressure PUMA until it ends complicity in Israeli apartheid. Balata player 16-year-old Saeed Odeh was gunned down by Israeli soldiers in May 2021 on the same day that PUMA shareholders met to talk about profits.

In the letter, the Palestinian footballers tell PUMA’s new CEO he has a choice to make:

Join the growing global consensus, including socially responsible businesses, refusing complicity in Israeli apartheid.
                     Or
Be on record for supporting a brutal apartheid regime that guns down young footballers.

Online, more than 2,700 copies of the Balata letter were sent to the new CEO of PUMA. The social media reach of the #BoycottPUMA hashtag topped 14 million, and a video from Balata player Ameen Mizyed was widely circulated.

Teams in a number of countries have dropped PUMA, most recently the Oakland Roots in California.

PUMA’s celebrity ambassadors and business partners have been raising ethical concerns over PUMA’s sponsorship of the Israel Football Association (IFA). The IFA governs and advocates on behalf of teams in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land.

As all Palestinians brace for what Israel’s most racist and fundamentalist government ever has in store, taking action against corporations like PUMA that support Israel's apartheid regime is more important than ever.

Groups around the world have pledged #NoRestForPUMA until it ends complicity in Israeli apartheid. We’re keeping that pledge. 

Contact us to get involved: pacbi@pacbi.org 

Below are tweets from the Global Day of Action.


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