Iraqi police suspect anti-Israel motive behind attacks on KFC outlets in Baghdad
Sources say several suspects arrested over pair of attacks, one of which involved makeshift bomb; fried chicken chain has been named in ‘Israel Boycott Guide’
BAGHDAD — Two Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants were attacked in Baghdad over the past 48 hours, causing damage but no injuries, and Iraqi security forces arrested some suspects, the interior ministry and police sources said on Monday.
Initial investigations showed that the restaurants were targeted over the perceived support of US-based brands for Israel amid the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, police sources said.
The first attack took place early on Sunday when two men on a motorcycle threw a makeshift bomb at a branch of the American fried chicken chain restaurant in eastern Baghdad’s Palestine Street, causing minor damage, police sources said.
On Monday, another KFC Baghdad branch and a second American-style restaurant were attacked by group of masked men who broke into the restaurants and used sticks to smash glass and destroy furniture.
They fled before the arrival of security forces, police sources said.
KFC did not immediately comment on the attacks.
Iran proxy militias mobs launching An organized campaign of attacking KFC and other US Franchise in Baghdad.
— Azat Alsalem (@AzzatAlsaalem) May 27, 2024
The interior ministry did not elaborate on the motives behind the attacks and said a police commander and other officers responsible for the areas where the attacks occurred had been detained and faced punitive measures.
The attacks come after an “Israel Boycott Guide” online listed KFC as a target of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel.
The fried chicken chain’s “parent company Yum Brands is an investor in Israeli start ups,” the website states. It instructs readers: “Don’t eat from KFC restaurants. Don’t work in KFC restaurants.”
???????? Demonstrators in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, attack the KFC restaurant, which is linked to an American company that supports the defeated Zi0nist entity. ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/SP3tCdZZSH
— ???? mari ???? (@marisaturno_) May 4, 2024
Western brands have been hit by boycotts and other forms of protest against Israel amid the war in Gaza that was started by Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack. The boycotts has hurt the fast food industry in countries across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to a report last month in Time Magazine.
The article said that international sales at McDonald’s increased by only 0.7% in the last quarter of 2023, compared to 16.5% growth in the same period the previous year.
McDonald’s drew the ire of BDS activists after local franchises provided free meals to Israeli soldiers.
In April, the McDonald’s Corporation purchased its brand back from Alonyal Limited, the Israeli corporation that had operated the chain in Israel for more than three decades, overseeing 225 restaurants at the time of the acquisition.
