WELCOME TO THE
Boycott Information Centre
QUICK OVERVIEW:GOAL OF THE BOYCOTT: USE OUR ALREADY ORGANISED SPACE TO HELP AID THE BDS MOVEMENT CALLED FOR BY PALESTINIAN & PRO-PALESTINE ACTIVISTS.THE BDS MOVEMENT: BOYCOTTING COMPANIES SUPPORTING AND/OR FUNDING ZIONISTS & ZIONISM IN ORDER FOR THESE COMPANIES TO CEASE FUNDING APARTHEID & GENOCIDE AND TO REMOVE ZIONISTS & ZIONISM FROM POSITIONS OF POWER IN SOCIETY.HYBE: EMPLOYS & PLATFORMS SCOOTER BRAUN AND TRUSTS HIM TO INTRODUCE OTHERS INTO THEIR COMPANY
NEW: SIGNED A 10 YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH UMG THAT BRAUN WILL OVERSEE.UMG: ZIONISM GALORE. CEO OF UMG, LUCIAN GRAINGE, DIRECTLY FUNDS THE IOF.
ALSO: GRAINGE AND P-DIDDY ALLEGEDLY RAN A SEXUAL BLACKMAILING RING AND PROMOTED ARTISTS WHO COMPLIED. LIL ROD HAS ACCUSED GRAINGE OF BEING COMPLICIT IN P-DIDDY’S PARTIES WHERE UNDERAGE BOYS AND GIRLS WERE ROUTINELY DRUGGED.SCOOTER BRAUN: A ZIONIST CONTINUOUSLY PROMOTING HASBARA (PROPAGANDA), EMPLOYING HIS ZIONIST FRIENDS AND AIDING ART-WASHING WHICH HOPES TO LEGITIMISE THE STATE OF ISRAEL THROUGH CULTUREBOYCOTT HYBE = REMOVE SCOOTER BRAUN & CANCEL UMG DEAL = REMOVING ZIONISTS FROM POWERFUL POSITIONS = AIDING THE BDS MOVEMENTBOYCOTTS WORK: SOUTH AFRICA GAINED FREEDOM THROUGH A SIMILAR STRATEGY BECAUSE BOYCOTTING MADE THE SYSTEMS SUPPORTING APARTHEID CRUMBLE, WHICH MEANT IT BECAME TOO EXPENSIVE MAINTAIN
PRIORITIES LIST
Please keep in mind that just because a priority is lower down the list, does not mean it is not important.The bottom line of the HYBE Boycott is completely halting anything that brings them revenue or further promotes their projects, even if it only puts mere cents into HYBE’s pockets.The intention with the Priorities List is to get people who were hesitant to join the boycott before, at the very very least, engaging with the baseline & first three calls to action.We hope this pulls more people into the boycott space and from there, they will see other people engaging with the complete boycott and be encouraged, and inspired, to join in further themselves.THIS LIST IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO WRITE OFF ANY PRIORITY AS UNIMPORTANT.If we want this boycott to succeed, we need to be willing to adhere to every priority.We have only highlighted Baseline to Priority 3 because those are the ‘easiest’ to fulfil in the sense that we are asking for less of a sacrifice from HYBE fans.
RESOURCES
PRIORITIES LIST (WRITTEN)
Baseline: Talk about Palestine online & offline
- donate to & share fundraisers for Palestinian causes
- call & email your representatives
- attend protests & events for Palestine
- sign petitions
- share news about PalestinePriority 1: Be vocal about HYBE’s link’s to Zionism
- use the #HYBEDivestFromZionism tags
- send emails & letters
- tag Korean media outlets
- use A4P’s infographics to educate other people
- sign the divestment petitionPriority 2: Boycott merch
Method 1: buy/preorder, cancel & express your refusal to buy until HYBE divests from Zionism.
Method 2: don’t buy at all & utilise the customer support option to send your message instead.Priority 3: Boycott Zionist involvement
- boycott new & old songs/projects that include direct Zionist involvementPriority 4: Boycott additional HYBE projects
- movies
- documentaries
- music shows
- exhibitions
- variety shows
- pop-up shops
alternatively: attend to educate other attendees and show support to Palestine.Priority 5: Boycott ALL HYBE music
- boycott all HYBE music, Zionist involvement or not
- utilise downloads instead of streaming
alternatively: stream LESS than you would usually & include Palestinian artists in your playlistsPriority 6: No engagement on HYBE channels
- no engagement with any of HYBE’s or their affiliated accounts’ social media, unless it is to spread boycott information *does not include artists’ personal accounts
- keep tweets about new projects to private accounts & dms
BASELINE: Talk about Palestine online & offline
1. Talk, post & retweet about Palestine.
Follow this list and pin it to your home screen for up to date news about Palestine.2. Donate to & share fundraisers for Palestinian causes:
- @ThePCRF : pcrf.net
- @UNRWA : donate.unrwa.org
- @CareForGaza : paypal.me/UsmanaliF
- @PiousProjects : piousprojects.org
- @GazaDirectAid : paypal.me/gzdirectaid
- @learntoliberate : learntoliberate.htm
- @OPOliveBranch_ : linktr.ee/opolivebranch
- Daily click : arab.org
- How to buy esims
- Follow @najungiesims, @najungie and @motionlessminpd for esim fundraisers
- Donate to ARMYs in PalestineWhy is it important to couple my donations to Palestine with tangible action?3.
a) Email your representatives
b) Automate your emails -(this particular tutorial details how to send automated emails to HYBE, but you can use the exact same process for your reps too!)4. Follow the @BDSmovement !!
Please visit their website and read through exactly what it is they’re asking of us & why they are asking it. Get on board !!
If you wanted to go the extra mile, you can also use The ‘No Thanks’, ‘Boycat’ & 'Buycott' apps and the ‘ETHOS’ website to boycott other companies and brands that support Israel that aren’t necessarily a BDS pressure target right now. They’re super easy to use!!
Accounts such as Zionists in Music (insta) & Zionists in Film (insta) are very informative accounts to follow and check who in either industry you might want to withdraw support from because of their genocidal views. This would fall under the 'cultural boycott' definition on the BDS website.5. Attend protests and events !! You can search for upcoming events near you on palestinecampaign.org6. You can use accounts like @palyouthmvmt & @PSCupdate to keep up to date with protests.
WHATS INCLUDED IN THE BOYCOTT
See Priorities ListClarifying: Do physical albums count as merch?Yes. Physical albums are merch and are included in the merch boycott.Some of you will disagree with this, and some of you will be unwilling to boycott physical albums so we have some considerations for you to make:1. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY FROM WEVERSE: if you have already sent messages to HYBE saying that you will not support them until they divest from Zionism, and then buy an album on that same account, it undermines not only your own messages, but it also undermines the rest of ours too and makes the whole movement look weak-willed. If you have made recent purchases or pre-orders, check the next boycott date- if it’s before your cancellation deadline, please cancel on the boycott date, if not: cancel asap.2. If you can consider waiting, at the very least until May, to buy your physical albums, that would be really helpful. May is when we find out if Scooter has indeed been booted.a) In the event that he stays, and you’re not willing to wait any longer, there will be resellers (as in eBay/ Facebook Marketplace etc, NOT retailers/ K-pop shops) you can buy the album from by then. This is not the best approach because it will encourage resellers to buy from Weverse again, but at least you yourself are not giving them any more money.b) In the event that he is fired, you will be very glad you saved up your money, because we will be buying and streaming like our lives depend on it. This is because it is so incredibly important that companies are rewarded for making moves against Zionism, and the best way we can do that is by making their profit margins soar. We need to show, in their records, that Zionism is unprofitable and acting in the interest of Palestine is acting in the interest of their consumers.3. Most importantly, if/when you buy an album, match the price of what you spend plus shipping, towards a donation for Palestinian cause. Follow MatchAnAlbum on Twitter!Clarifying: StreamingFirstly, We ask that everyone joins the streaming boycotts during the strike weeks as these are not about HYBE specifically, they are about disrupting the economy on a grand scale, in every way we possibly can, to pressure our Governments to stop supporting Israel.Onto HYBE-Let it be known that while it’s true that streams aren’t a huge financial factor for artists or companies, a complete boycott of HYBE means boycotting anything and everything that adds to HYBE’s overall revenue, no matter how minuscule it might be.Aside from this, the goal of a complete streaming boycott is not necessarily a financial hit, it’s a ‘message’ hit. It provides a visual display of numbers not matching their expectations which is still beneficial, and it shows that we are consistent and determined with the overall boycott.MAIN CALL TO ACTION: BOYCOTT ALL SONGS WITH ZIONIST INVOLVEMENT.OPTIONAL BUT VERY HIGHLY ENCOURAGED: BOYCOTT ALL HYBE ARTISTS’ MUSIC.Whether people want to boycott all HYBE artists’ songs, or just the songs with Zionist involvement, it’s entirely up to them, all we ask is that you refrain from arguing with each other about it.If you’re someone who is boycotting streaming completely, by all means, encourage others to do the same, we will continue to do so as well, but do not force or insult people for not boycotting absolutely everything. This only further polarises people away from considering this approach.If you’re someone who is only boycotting the songs with Zionists, please do not attack people for boycotting all songs and attempt to sabotage their efforts to engage with the art that they love without benefiting the company.This may be a hot take and a little hard for some people to wrap their heads around, but I think that having the two coinciding approaches to the streaming boycott, could actually be very beneficial.If we have a good portion of us boycotting EVERYTHING & a portion only boycotting the songs with Zionists- those will be the songs with the least amount of streams which will highlight where the issue resides and how that’s having a knock-on effect to the commercial success of the album, and the artists’ discography, as a whole.Having said this, we do ask that everyone refrains from taking part in streaming parties & Stationhead lives, as these greatly undermine the efforts of the boycott, and takes away the focus from Palestine.
How to Boycott Merch
First of all, to boycott, means to not buy the products, however! In order to let HYBE know why we are not buying, we need people to send a message that they cannot ignore.So, if you have the money and are prepared to join us, here’s what we need to do:Step 1: Preorder an item from the Weverse shop app or on the website.Step 2: Check the next cancellation date on the boycott map!Step 3: Encourage as many people to join us in our efforts as possible while we wait for the date to roll around.Step 4: It’s cancellation day! It’s time to:Option 1: Cancel your preorder
Option 2: Make an order and cancel (for non-preorder items)
Option 3: Contact customer supportAdditional action: regardless of which option you use, please add as many items as you wish to your cart (try at least 5!) without buying, and leave all of the items in there. Abandoning your items in an online shopping cart can really affect their sales because it limits availability of their products to other customers who're intending to actually buy them!
It will also interfere with Weverse Shop's algorithm and data recording. If enough of us do this all at once, we might be able to mess up their servers too!Step 5: Type out your reason for cancelling/ not ordering. Use our guide to help format your message to HYBE but make sure you use your own words! We need the talking points to be cohesive but the phrasing to be unique.Step 6: Attach photos from A4P's folder & alternate folder to your messages if you can.Step 7: If you are engaging with the preorder option, immediately after cancelling your order, choose a different preorder item! (this, in theory, would prevent people who are intending to buy from being able to).Step 8: Post your screenshots of your cancellation & your message to HYBE with the affiliated hashtags found under the dates in the boycott map!Step 9: IMPORTANT: Please support each other. If you see someone on the timeline posting their screenshots, send them a quick message of gratitude or support!! Not only does this encourage and motivate people who’re already taking part, but if you drop the tags at the same time, it really helps to trend them and promote the boycott in a positive and enticing way, which will hopefully persuade more people to join in.Step 10: See step 2.For those of you who do not wish to or are unable to take part in actively cancelling, or contacting customer support, you can always show your solidarity by adhering to step 3 & step 9. Something is always better than nothing!Lastly, please remember that while we have the boycott dates as focus days, you can send messages to HYBE this way any day! We do ask though, that if you’re buying & cancelling, that you do that on the dates we have set, for a more direct and condensed financial hit.Clarifying: Do physical albums count as merch?
MERCH BOYCOTT MAP
WEVERSE SHOP MESSAGE GUIDE
What to include in your message to HYBE:1. State that you’re cancelling your order in support of the Palestinian people (briefly talk about the situation i.e. “who have been subjected to 2 months and 75 years of genocide.”)2. Mention how HYBE has been complicit in these crimes against Palestinians in their association with Scooter Braun. Include a brief explanation of Braun’s Zionist behaviour.3. Clearly declare what actions we want to see HYBE take. i.e. cut ties with Scooter Braun, more in-depth & effective background checks on any and all potential collaborators to avoid the hiring of people with a history of supporting anti-Palestinian and/or pro-genocide rhetoric, adhere to the BDS boycott list etc- up to you!4. Reiterate that HYBE fans will continue to stand firmly against Zionist affiliations with HYBE and in turn, with HYBE artists permanently.5. Affirm that until we see material action by HYBE in support of Palestine and in rejection of Israel, especially their war crimes against Palestinians, we will continue to boycott the company’s products & projects that've been touched by Zionists. If HYBE continues to platform genocide enthusiasts, they will have to face the consequences of that decision.These messages are limited to 500 characters, so you can either do a brief overview of each point OR you can go into more detail with each subject and send multiple messages.If you wish to send a longer message to HYBE, feel free to use one of the photo slots to do so!Don’t forget to attach up to ten photos & screenshots to your messages! These can be found here: A4P's folder & alternate folderYou will have up to ten photo slots per message- please try to correlate your photos to your specific messages to back up what you’re saying with evidence, e.g. use the Pharrell screenshots when referencing his involvement in raising $60M for the IOF.Best of luck!
Why Targeting HYBE & Scooter Braun
South Africa Anti-Apartheid, Palestine BDS & the HYBE boycottThe Anti-Apartheid Movement began as the Boycott Movement, set up in 1959 to persuade shoppers to boycott apartheid goods. For 35 years the consumer boycott was at the heart of anti-apartheid campaigns. Boycotting South African fruit and other products was something that everyone could do. The cultural boycott aided the Anti-Apartheid Movement massively too. The musicians union blocked South African artists from playing on the BBC, and the cultural boycott saw most performers refusing to play in the apartheid state.The similar movement for Palestine is the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) Movement that works to end international support for Israel’s oppressions of Palesinians, and to pressure Israel to comply with International Law. BDS is a major part of the struggle for a Free Palestine, and has existed for decades to pressure companies, universities, and governments to end support to Israel. The BDS movement recently successfully pressured PUMA to end their partnership with the Israel Football Association. As seen here, BDS calls for entities to divest from working with Zionists, with the goal of ending support for Israel.I’m sure many of you have seen the graphics of key companies BDS has targeted for the boycott. And we absolutely need to hold to those. However the BDS movement is not the sole authority of leading boycotts against Israel. It is on all of us to research in our own spaces and identify other Zionist institutions, who we then boycott in line with the BDS strategy. So, the HYBE boycott call helps the BDS movement, by identifying Zionists that need to be removed from office as a way to force economic pressure on Israel.This specific HYBE boycott will not end the genocide. That lies with the Israeli, US, and UK governments that are carrying out and funding this genocide. But similar to how the South Africa Anti-Apartheid Boycott Movement was a key force in ending apartheid in South Africa, so the BDS movement, and its branches, plays a major role in ending Israeli apartheid and oppression by forcing Zionists to face financial loss.Why are we focusing on Scooter BraunAs mentioned earlier, the BDS movement calls to remove Zionists from their platforms. Scooter is sharing Israeli propaganda and Zionist rhetoric which gives ‘excuses’ & ‘validation’ to Israel’s behaviour.HasbaraOne thing you really must comprehend to understand just how dangerous what Scooter is doing really is, is that Israel loves propaganda.“Hasbara” is the Hebrew word that translates to ‘explaining’ and it’s Israel’s official public diplomacy tactic.It aims to explain everything Israel does, whether it’s justified or not, in a way where it seems justified.Whether that’s:
- the genocide of Gazans
- the apartheid system
- the illegal settlements in the West Bank
- the dehumanisation, murder & eviction of PalestiniansWhatever Israel does, Hasbara will ‘explain’ it in a way that makes it seem justified.This is what Zionists repeat because this is what they learn in schools and in their kibbutz- even schools in the US & UK teach this.There are literal handbooks, detailing which language to use, how to answer difficult questions about Israel, & how to communicate certain topics.They detail sentence by sentence, how to repeat Zionist propaganda.
One is called ‘The Israel project, 2009 Global Language Dictionary’, which was meant to be used internally by political organisations and Israel lobby organisations in the US but it was leaked.Another is from 2002, which was made specifically for educational institutions called ‘The Hasbara Handbook: Promoting Israel on Campus’.If you wish to learn more about Hasbara and it’s essential role in the Zionist regime, you can watch ‘Israelism’, a documentary made by two Jewish people which talks about indoctrination at school, and ‘The Occupation of the American Mind’ a documentary on how Israel warps information to make their actions seem justifiable to the western world.For evidence of Scooter’s harmful propaganda, please see this thread.RelevanceScooter Braun’s platform is affiliated with HYBE due to his position in the company.1. Scooter’s name is on almost every HYBE artists’ recent albums.
2. He posts and promotes HYBE artists on his social media.
3. He claims HYBE as “our company”.
4. He & the Chairman of HYBE Corp have appeared as a united front in the media.
5. He has done A&R for many of HYBE’s artists and will continue to do so. cr:@AJBaepsaeScooter is not just “one man” he is a connection of Zionists in the media space with financial & cultural influence that has now stretched from the US to Korea because of his merger with HYBE. cr:@AJBaepsaeGiven Scooter’s close relationship with Bang PD, to the extent that Bang has said “he trusts Scooter so much he’s happy to meet with anyone he recommends”, Scooter’s influence over Zionist collaborations he can bring into HYBE is very high, as well as his consistent language is calling HYBE “our company”. Scooter is not making a distinction between his role at HYBE America and HYBE, and neither shall we.Promoting Israel & Normalising ZionismFor years, Scooter has used his platform to coerce his artists’ and industry friends to go to Israel as an opportunity to get more positive publicity for the state. He convinced a 17 year old Justin Bieber to visit Israel with him during a heightened time of controversy when Elvis Costello cancelled his concerts there. Scooter and Justin’s trip was highly publicised.Scooter also convinced Demi Lovato to go to Israel for free- “in exchange for a few posts” but posted an apology “against all advice” on her Instagram story when she understood what visiting Israel meant.Using celebrities to promote Zionism is something Israel depends on and actively tries to manipulate.Bad newsNot only is Scooter infamous for violating artists’ rights, and vindictively ruining people’s careers, but also, Scooter’s connections to alleged abusers are very, very high, and this is simply not the type of man we want pulling the strings in our safe spaces.
cr:@burbankbleacher : full threadCan Scooter be fired?The goal is to fire him because he is a Zionist sharing harmful lies. To those that say HYBE can’t fire Scooter, yes they absolutely can. Zionism is not a protected class under US discrimination law, and a Jewish attorney has shared her helpful views below. Key point: Protections like that have an extremely high burden of proof and once again being a Zionist is not related to a specific religion, regardless of propaganda being pushed.
Additionally, Muslims and Arabs are being fired across western countries right now, or being subjected to higher surveillance by their companies, due to pro-Palestine views. How is it that this is acceptable, but somehow it’s impossible for Scooter to be fired? Your internal Islamophobia and bias is showing.Also, people do get fired for being racist/hate speech.
Freedom of speech is not equal to freedom of consequence.Aside from his Zionist propaganda, HYBE can fire him for:
a) harming the company’s reputation
b) hurting their profit margins (being a financial liability due to the boycott)
c) generally being bad for business
d) having corrupt/ unethical business practices
e) not adhering to HYBE’s standard of personal or professional conductWe cannot allow Zionists spreading propaganda to continue infiltrating our safe spaces, and in accordance with the Palestinian fight for liberation, we need to remove Zionists from their positions of power. That is the very basic core of what we’re working to achieve.Why target a CEO instead of politicians?It’s not, ‘instead of’, it's ‘as well as’. We can do both. We are targeting them also, however, the reason why they feel so comfortable IGNORING our emails and protests is because of Zionists being in powerful positions.Public opinion does nothing if it’s not acted upon.The BDS Movement exists to encourage people to take a look at their consumption, to take note of where their money is going, and to avoid supporting Zionists & Zionism.Kicking Scooter out so he cannot hire more Zionists under Hybe & cannot push his propaganda onto & through HYBE’s artists is like snipping a thread in a knitted sweater. That thread slowly unravels, and the hole gets larger and larger as more communities pressure their most consumed companies to divest from Zionism, until it’s unwearable, and it’s no longer beneficial for politicians to ignore the general public.'Death by a thousand cuts"
FAQs
Q1) Many army worry that this boycott is "hurting" bts can you debunk that!People tend to have two main worries with this.1. “The boycott will harm BTS.”-
The only thing BTS could potentially lose is money and if the lyrics to Yoongi’s ‘Polar Night’ are anything to go by, they would want us to do whatever we could to stand up against imperialism, even if it meant them losing money from this boycott (not that they’re in any financial trouble at the moment anyway).Any money BTS makes on projects they worked on pre-enlistment that have come out during their enlistment period is held for them until they finish their service. If we can really apply the pressure NOW, and get Scooter kicked out before j-hope comes home, we can make up for all the album sales and recover a fair amount of streams through the buying and streaming parties we will hold upon Scooter's expulsion.Although, if we don’t properly start adhering to the boycott, and Scooter remains, Jin and j-hope will unfortunately see less income from their projects that they originally would have had. We do still have time to prevent this happening for the other members, but we really really need to buckle down in order to do so.I have recently seen that people are worried about chart positions too. There is no expiry date on music. There is no reason why, if we all work together, that we wouldn’t be able to get the members some fantastic chart achievements once Scooter is gone.2. “The boycott will tarnish BTS’ reputation.”-
Let it be clear we do not, in any shape or form blame BTS for the genocide in Palestine nor do we blame BTS for HYBE’s continued allyship with Zionists.We understand it’s an unreasonable expectation that the members know every single thing that the people they work and interact with have posted on social media.However, it is HYBE’s responsibility to vet potential collaborators and employees to make sure they haven’t engaged in anti-Palestinian and pro-genocide rhetoric.The boycott isn’t about BTS. Nor is it about any other HYBE artist specifically.It’s about the Zionist invasion within HYBE.The only thing hurting BTS’ reputation right now, is the constant association they have with Zionists, thanks to Scooter Braun and HYBE.
We are well aware that BTS aren’t under HYBE America and therefore aren’t under direct command of Scooter Braun, however HYBE & BigHit Music have used a lot of Braun’s contacts in America to help make their projects.As Scooter doesn’t have the best reputation in the west as a producer, after what he did to Taylor Swift especially, but a lot of other artists too- the only people who are willing to work with Braun from America are the people who are just as awful as he is, and, unfortunately, these are the people that Braun is introducing to HYBE as a whole, and, subsequently, BTS and other HYBE artists.Not only this, but he has also uploaded countless Instagram posts, stories and videos reposting Israeli lies and propaganda & engaging with anti-Palestinian and pro-genocide messages, using his 3.8M following to aid Israel in it’s effort to validate their attempts to ethnically cleanse Palestine.
Zionists are the ones hurting BTS’ reputation right now, not the Armys trying to separate them from BTS.In short:We boycott = BTS lose money.We don’t boycott = Scooter stays indefinitely and hires more & more Zionists into HYBE’s company. Everyday, more and more people realise how barbaric Zionism is and understand that it has no place in our society. How do you think this will reflect onto BTS? You say BTS is not political. You say to not rope them into political situations. Is it not the Zionists, whose inherent political controversy follows them wherever they go, to blame? You do not have to be a politician to decide that you will take deliberate action to avoid supporting genocide.Q2) You realise that HYBE can’t fire Scooter for his religious beliefs, right?We are not asking HYBE to fire Scooter for his religious beliefs.We are telling HYBE that we will not support their projects as long as Scooter is working at HYBE & HYBE America because of his Zionist behaviours.Whether HYBE wants to state their reasoning for firing Braun to be because of his Zionism is entirely up to them. Zionism is not a protected class under US discrimination law (please see this response by a Jewish attorney) so HYBE would be well within their right to fire Scooter for his genocidal views.However, HYBE is very lucky and has quite the selection of valid reasons to fire Scooter without having to mention his Zionism if they wish to avoid doing so, because aside from his Zionist propaganda, HYBE can fire him for:a) harming the company’s reputation
b) hurting their profit margins (being a financial liability)
c) generally being bad for business
d) having corrupt/ unethical business practices
e) not adhering to hybe’s standard of personal or professional conductEven if you still believe that Scooter cannot be fired, our boycott is actually still worth partaking in!Our smaller goals of this boycott are:To encourage HYBE to run background checks on the people they plan on working with before signing them onto any sort of contract.To encourage HYBE to neglect any and all business or art opportunities with genocide enthusiasts in the future- this includes abiding by the BDS boycott list.Q3) Can you guarantee the boycott will work?Nobody can guarantee the outcome of anything before it’s happened, although boycotts do have a history of major success.
Read: 'Do Boycotts Actually Work?' by Janice Gassam AsareFun Fact! The term 'boycott' was actually named after Charles Cunningham Boycott, a British ex-army officer. Boycott was a vicious and greedy land owner in Ireland and eventually his local town had enough of his inhumane treatment and refused to serve him, protested on his farm, and threatened everyone who dared to continue to work with him, even his family. After three months of this treatment, Boycott fled back to the UK where he lived out the rest of his days. News of the success this little Irish town encouraged other communities to follow suit and led to many more successful removals from British landlords. It was one of the most successful tactics ever used against the British in Ireland. sourceThe lack of belief that this particular boycott against HYBE could ever have any sort of positive effect or outcome could stop you from even trying. Which, in turn, makes other people believe it is useless to try because so many other people believe it is useless to try. Do you see? It’s a constant cycle of pessimism.If you want proof that boycotts work, look at Starbucks. Think about how many millions of people who are unaware of the Starbucks boycotts, think of how many millions of Zionists are still going to Starbucks, think of how many millions of people simply do not care enough to try.And yet it’s working. I implore you to not give up before we’ve even tried.I acknowledge that people tend to only support something once they know it’s succeeding, such was the case with McDonalds- when the Chief Financial Officer announced the impact of the continued boycott efforts, McDonald’s Corporation lost $7B of its value in mere hours, but, why wait? Have some faith and join our efforts. The sooner we get people on board, the more effective the boycott will be and the sooner we can stop Zionist interference in our artists' work!Evidence of boycotts working in history:
- Montgomery Bus Boycott
- Suffragettes Boycott
- Anti-Apartheid Movement (South Africa)Examples of boycotts & protests working within the KPOP industry:
- Loona
- Bird song with Yasushi Akimoto (eng trans)None of these boycotts or protests had any guarantee that they’d be successful, and yet people joined in anyway, because “it’s better to try and fail, than to not try at all”.Q4) “Why are you boycotting HYBE? Why aren't you doing xyz instead?”Everyone who is boycotting HYBE is most likely already adhering to every other call to action.We are donating, we are calling & emailing our representatives & MPs, we are calling for a ceasefire, we are boycotting the companies on the BDS list.Boycotting HYBE is an additional action we have chosen to take in solidarity with the BDS Movement. The purpose of the BDS movement is to dismantle Zionism in every crack & crevice of our society. How dare we not even attempt to try and do our part, as an already organised community, to help with this?The BDS Movement chose those specific companies to target because they acknowledge having a larger impact on one target is more impactful than having lots of goals with each person picking and choosing which ones they want to boycott.However, this is organised with the general public in mind and doesn’t strictly apply to organised spaces in which people can arrange a movement in their own community, that will have the ability to pressure a company all on their own, without the help of the general public. The HYBE boycott directly aids the ‘cultural boycott’ and boycotting Scooter would be classified as a ‘common sense boycott’ by the BDS Movement.The ‘No Thanks’, ‘Boycat’ & 'Buycott apps and the ‘ETHOS’ website exist for people to identify brands that fund Israel, even outside the BDS Movement for those that wish to extend their boycotts. There is no reason why HYBE fans shouldn’t try to extend theirs.Some of you are getting hung up on ‘BIG’ companies and ’BIG’ movements, not realising that the HYBE boycott would serve as a smaller stepping stone, for bigger movements in the future.The boycott isn’t just about Scooter, this is about HYBE itself making moves against Zionism.HYBE is an international company now, and not to mention, very influential. If they decide to stand against Zionism, the potential ripple effect this could cause would be enormous. Not just within the music industry, but it would also inspire others to actually try to make a change within their organised spaces too.The more this happens, the more Zionism is shunted out of society and Zionists have less influence, less power, and less money to use in the interest of Israel and the IOF.But this doesn't happen overnight, and it requires as many people working together to achieve this as possible. We’re not going to reject Zionism and make it as unwelcome in our society as Nazism is, in a few simple steps. It's hard, it’s gruelling, a lot of it might seem useless and petty, but it all contributes to a bigger picture, a larger plan, a wider goal."No action is too small and we must remember that any rock, no matter how small, that is thrown into the pond of liberation will create a ripple effect that contributes to greater societal shifts for years to come." - Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes: 'Do Boycotts Actually Work?'Q5) "If Scooter were to leave tomorrow would you stop the boycott?"If Scooter were to leave tomorrow, we will be immediately organising buying & streaming parties as it is incomprehensibly important that companies see a huge surge in support after making moves against Zionism.This, however, does not include songs/projects with Zionist involvement. We should absolutely still boycott those until they get the message and stop inviting Zionists to work with their artists.Q6) "what alternatives to streaming are you using"For ways to download your favourite music without buying it, please see Priority 5's rescources.Q7) couldn't find any information about it but is linefriends/bt21 part of the boycott since it's under bighit/hybe licensing, even though linefriends designs and produces the products?We were previously not including LineFriends in the boycott as Scooter is completely unaffiliated with the company and BT21 characters- however, as of the 24th July 2024, BT21 have partnered with McDonalds which is on the boycott list for sending free meals to IDF soldiers while they systematically starve Gaza. BT21 is therefore now part of the BDS boycott.Q8) How would you recommend spreading outreach to other HYBE fandoms ?If you have friends in other fandoms, reach out to them and see if you can start an initiative to approach bigger accounts within those fandoms, we’ve got a lot of resources on hand to educate people about this, so please use those!!You can also create accounts in other Weverse communities and reach out that way too. We’re hoping the Priorities List will help to encourage more people to take part in the less ‘extreme’ calls to action at the very least.In general, how to get more people involved is to LOUDLY participate in every campaign you agree with. Keep talking about Palestine, keep talking about why you’re boycotting HYBE, keep posting ‘evidence’ that you’re boycotting, and please don’t discourage others from engaging in calls to action that you think are ‘unnecessary’ or ‘pointless’.Q9) In the event HYBE allows Scooter to remain even into 2025, how will we proceed?We’ll see when we get there. Right now we’re focusing on the immediate term, and what can we do to get Scooter out sooner rather than later.Q10) Why are we boycotting so many things at once instead of targeting something specifically. I worry about the sustainability of the cause or people doing a choose your own adventure type of boycott which diminishes impact.We hope the boycott Priorities List answers this concern.Q11) if this is a hybe boycott why is bts the only one being targeted?Taking this question in good faith. It’s not just army, it’s also carats, moas, engenes, fearnots, tokkis, lunés & flovers taking part in the boycott. This is a community effort and we should all support each other in our goal to get HYBE to divest from Zionism.Q12) Hi! I’m curious about merch memberships.I did not renew my merch membership, however, I still have items waiting to ship from it. Would it be ok to still receive the merch I paid for last February? It cannot be refunded.It’s fine in this specific case to wait for your order paid for last February. In general, many of us have allowed our memberships to expire as an additional sign of protest. If you choose to do so, please send a message through Weverse customer service telling them you are no longer paying for a membership due to Scooter Braun’s employment by HYBE. This goes for all our actions - you have to contact HYBE and let them know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it as a form of pressure on the company.
Q13) is streaming as well as buying albums from other groups from hybe ok? what about concerts? What should we do about concerts? I know boycotting everything is the idea but the limited nature of tickets (compared to merch/albums which restock) and the prevalence of scalping makes me wonder if it's really an effective targetStreaming & buying from other groups from HYBE is NOT okay. This is a HYBE boycott, meaning every artist under HYBE should be boycotted.While concerts would technically fall under Priority 4, we’re not going to address that right now. We want everyone to be clear on the initial calls to action we already have, and solidify the support on those first before bringing in any other calls which could potentially derail the boycott again. We can talk about concerts later on.