Many international brands are boycotted like KFC © Mena Today
On a recent evening in Cairo, a worker cleaned tables in an empty McDonald's restaurant. Branches of other Western fast-food chains in the Egyptian capital also appeared deserted.
All have been hit by a largely spontaneous, grassroots boycott campaign over Israel's military offensive in the Gaza strip since the deadly Hamas attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Western brands are feeling the impact in Egypt and Jordan, and there are signs the campaign is spreading in some other Arab countries including Kuwait and Morocco.
Participation has been uneven with only minor effects seen in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to speed up negotiations on a long-discussed free trade agreement with China, citing growing global protectionism and unilateral actions that threaten the principles of free trade.
The global narrative surrounding the Middle East often centers on one storyline, but rarely acknowledges another equally important and long-overlooked chapter. It is the untold story of nearly 850,000 Jews who were expelled or forced to flee from Arab and Muslim-majority countries in the mid-20th century.
Israel put a planned strike on a village in southern Lebanon on hold on Saturday after the Lebanese army requested access to the site to "address a breach" of a ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military spokesperson said.
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