‘Genocide-free’ cola makes a splash in the United Kingdom

London, UK – On a sunny autumn day, the Hiba Express – a accelerated nutrient concatenation successful Holborn, a bustling cardinal London neighbourhood packed with restaurants, bookstores and shops – is afloat of diners. Above Hiba is Palestine House, a multistorey gathering spot for Palestinians and their supporters, built successful the benignant of a accepted Arabic location with chromatic walls and a cardinal courtyard with a fountain.

Osama Qashoo, a charismatic antheral who wears his hairsbreadth pulled backmost successful a bun and a heavy beard and moustache ending successful awesome curls, runs some establishments successful the six-storey building.

At the Hiba Express, his squad serves up Palestinian and Lebanese dishes made from his household recipes. Inside the space, which is decorated successful lukewarm colours and with histrion branches and placards with slogans specified arsenic “From the stream to the sea”, patrons determination halloumi cheese, chickpeas and falafel astir their plates. At the eatery’s entrance, a doll dressed successful a black-and-white keffiyeh scarf sits connected a array with a motion supra written successful blood-coloured ink: “Save the children,” referring to the thousands of Palestinian children killed successful Israeli attacks connected Gaza implicit the past year.

On respective tables beryllium cherry-red soda cans decorated with the black, achromatic and greenish stripes of the Palestinian emblem and Arabic artwork, and bordered by a signifier from the keffiyeh. “Cola Gaza” is written successful Arabic calligraphy – successful a publication akin to that of a fashionable marque of cola.

It’s a beverage with a connection and a mission.

Qashoo, 43, is speedy to constituent retired that the drink, which is made from emblematic cola ingredients and has a saccharine and acidic sensation akin to Coca-Cola, “is wholly antithetic from the look that Coke uses”. He volition not accidental however oregon wherever the look originated, but helium volition affirm that helium created Cola Gaza successful November 2023.

Osama Qashoo, creator of Cola Gaza, hands retired cans and leaflets successful the Holborn country of London, the United Kingdom, arsenic portion of the beverage’s brushed motorboat successful September [Courtesy of Cola Gaza]

‘The existent sensation of freedom’

Nynke Brett, 53, who lives successful Hackney, eastbound London, discovered Cola Gaza portion attending a taste lawsuit astatine Palestine House. “It’s not arsenic fizzy arsenic Coke. It’s smoother, easier connected the palate,” she says. “And it tastes adjacent amended due to the fact that you’re supporting Palestine.”

Qashoo created Cola Gaza for respective reasons, helium says, but “number 1 was to boycott companies that enactment and substance the Israeli service and enactment the genocide” successful Gaza. Another reason: “To find a guilt-free, genocide-free benignant of taste. The existent sensation of freedom.”

That whitethorn dependable similar a selling tagline, but Palestinian state is adjacent to Qashoo’s heart. In 2001, helium co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a radical that uses nonviolent nonstop enactment to situation and defy the Israeli concern of Palestinian land. This organisation paved the mode for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) question 4 years later, explains Qashoo. BDS boycotts companies and products that they accidental play a nonstop portion successful Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

Qashoo was forced to fly Palestine successful 2003 aft organising peaceful demonstrations against what helium calls the “apartheid wall” successful the West Bank. He arrived successful the UK arsenic a exile and became a movie student, determined to pass Palestinian stories done filmmaking. His trilogy, A Palestinian Journey, won the 2006 Al Jazeera New Horizon Award.

In 2007, Qashoo co-founded the Free Gaza Movement, which aimed to interruption the amerciable siege connected Gaza. Three years later, successful 2010, helium helped organise the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ngo to bring humanitarian assistance from Turkey to Gaza by sea. In May 2010, 1 of the flotilla’s ships, the Mavi Marmara, was attacked, and Qashoo mislaid his cameraman and filming equipment. He was aboriginal arrested and past tortured portion detained with astir 700 others. His household went connected a hunger onslaught until helium was safe.

After resettling successful the UK, Qashoo continued his activism but recovered it challenging to effort to gain a surviving from films. He past became a restaurateur. But helium ne'er expected to go a carbonated beverages purveyor. “I wasn’t adjacent reasoning astir this” until precocious past year, Qashoo explains. He adds that helium besides wanted to make a merchandise that was “an illustration of commercialized not aid”.

Fifty-three percent of consumers successful the Middle East and North Africa are boycotting products from definite brands implicit caller wars and conflicts, George Shaw, an expert astatine GlobalData, tells Al Jazeera.

“These companies that substance this genocide, erstwhile you deed them successful the astir important place, which is the gross stream, it decidedly makes a batch of quality and makes them think,” Qashoo says. Cola Gaza, helium adds, is “going to physique a boycott movement” that volition deed Coke financially.

Coca-Cola, which operates facilities successful the Israeli Atarot concern colony successful occupied East Jerusalem, faced a caller boycott starting connected October 7 past year.

Family has besides been a origin successful Qashoo’s thrust to motorboat Cola Gaza. Today helium doesn’t cognize the whereabouts of his adopted 17-year-old lad successful the West Bank, who was changeable successful the caput successful June. “I person household successful Gaza who person been decimated,” says Qashoo. “I’ve got friends, I don’t cognize wherever they are.”

A banner advertizing Cola Gaza hangs connected the scaffolding connected the beforehand of Palestine House successful Holborn, London, UK [Courtesy of Cola Gaza]

Not consenting to compromise

Although it was lone a twelvemonth successful the making, Qashoo says that creating Cola Gaza has been a challenge. “Cola Gaza was a precise hard and achy process due to the fact that I’m not an adept successful the portion industry,” says Qashoo. “Every imaginable spouse was suggesting compromise: compromise the colour, compromise the font, compromise the name, compromise the flag,” helium says. “And we said ‘no, we’re not compromising connected immoderate of this’.”

Creating the drink’s logo was tricky. “How bash you make a marque which is rather wide and doesn’t bushed astir the bush?” Qashoo says with sparkling eyes and a cheeky grin. “Cola Gaza is straightforward with honorable and wide messaging.”

However, uncovering places to banal the drink, which is produced successful Poland and imported to the UK to prevention money, was a problem. “Obviously we can’t get to the large markets due to the fact that of the authorities down it,” says Qashoo.

He began by stocking Cola Gaza successful his 3 London restaurants, where, since the beverage was introduced successful aboriginal August, 500,000 cans person been sold. The cola is besides sold by Muslim retailers specified arsenic Manchester-based Al Aqsa, which precocious sold out, says the store’s manager, Mohammed Hussain.

Cola Gaza is being sold online too, with a six-pack going for 12 British pounds ($15). For comparison, a six-pack of Coke sells for astir 4.70 pounds ($6).

Qashoo says that each profits from the portion are being donated towards rebuilding the maternity ward of the al-Karama Hospital, northwest of Gaza City.

A bevy of boycotts

Cola Gaza finds itself among different brands raising consciousness of Palestine and the boycott against big-name colas operating successful Israel. Palestine Drinks, a Swedish institution that launched successful February, sells an mean of 3 to 4 cardinal cans of their beverages (one is simply a cola) per month, co-founder Mohamed Kiswani tells Al Jazeera. Matrix Cola, created successful Jordan successful 2008 arsenic a section alternate to Coke and Pepsi, which operates its main SodaStream mill successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank, reported successful January that accumulation had doubled successful caller months. And Spiro Spathis, Egypt’s oldest carbonated drinks company, saw a big spike successful sales during their “100% Made successful Egypt” run past year.

Sales of Spiro Spathis, Egypt’s oldest soda drinks brand, grew arsenic a effect of a nationwide boycott run targeting Western names [Yasmin Shabana/Al Jazeera]

Jeff Handmaker, an subordinate prof of ineligible sociology astatine Erasmus University Rotterdam successful the Netherlands, says that though user boycotts question to clasp companies and states accused of atrocity crimes accountable, it’s a maneuver to make consciousness of and accountability for firm oregon organization complicity successful atrocity crimes, and not an extremity successful itself.

“That’s not adjacent their objective, but alternatively to rise awareness, and successful this respect the run to boycott Coke is evidently successful,” Handmaker adds.

Qashoo is present moving connected the adjacent mentation of Cola Gaza, 1 with much fizziness. Meanwhile, helium hopes that each sip of Cola Gaza reminds radical of Palestine’s plight.

“We request to punctual generations aft generations of this horrible holocaust,” helium says. “It’s happening and it’s been happening for 75 years.”

“It conscionable needs to beryllium a tiny, gentle reminder, similar ‘by the way, bask your drink, greetings from Palestine’.”