McDonald’s Malaysia drops lawsuit against pro-Palestinian boycott group

The Malaysian operator of the fast food giant said it would not pursue its US$1.27 million lawsuit against the local chapter of the BDS movement

McDonald’s Malaysia had claimed that the boycotters had slandered its business and implied it had profited from the assault on Palestinians and conspired with Israel

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Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) supporters outside the Shah Alam High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 18, 2024. Photo: Hadi Azmi

Published: 2:48pm, 22 Mar 2024Updated: 2:58pm, 22 Mar 2024

The Malaysian operator of US fast food giant McDonald’s on Friday said it will withdraw its legal suit for damages against the local chapter of an Israel boycott movement, insisting they are aligned with the country’s position in support of Palestinians under siege in Gaza.

“We hope that the decision made today will allow all parties to move forward and focus on finding a resolution that upholds justice,” McDonald’s Malaysia managing director Azmir Jaafar said in a statement.

Lawyers representing both parties had met on Monday for their first round of court mediation, months after Gerbang Alaf Restaurants, the local franchise owner of the international fast food icon, filed a US$1.27 million lawsuit against the campaign group in December for alleging links between McDonald’s Malaysia and Israel’s armed forces.

A man reacts during a “Free Palestine” rally near the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in December 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Since Jerusalem launched a deadly assault on Gaza in October, Malaysian consumers have rallied behind a call by the local arm of the global boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) movement against brands seen to have links with Israel, causing many of those companies to incur financial losses.

McDonald’s became a target of the boycott movement following viral social media posts showing videos of McDonald’s in Israel donating free food to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the wake of the October 7 Hamas incursion into Israeli territory.

Gerbang Alaf Restaurants had previously justified its lawsuit by arguing that the movement had slandered its business and implied it had profited from the assault on Palestinians and conspired with Israel.

McDonald’s Malaysia says that they “do not support nor are we complicit in any conflicts or wars”, and that it stands by its commitment as a wholly Muslim-owned business towards transparency, ethical business practices and social responsibility.