Yohanes Maharso, Defara Dhanya, Reuters, Jakarta – The global coffee shop chain company, Starbucks, once again expressed its response to the allegation of financial support provision to Israel aimed at their company. Starbucks said it does not provide financial support or profits to the Israeli government or army in any way.
Starbucks is listed as one of the global companies affected by the negative sentiment of anti-Israel. This sentiment has emerged since Israel's aggression against Gaza, Palestine, resulting in many casualties among Palestinian civilians.
"Our position remains unchanged. Starbucks stands for humanity. We condemn violence, the loss of innocent life, and all hate and weaponized speech," read the statement on its website as quoted on Saturday, Feb 24.
This was also stated by Starbucks Indonesia on its official Instagram account @starbucksindonesia on Friday, Feb. 23. The company has previously issued an official statement on the website on January 19, 2024.
Starbucks asserted that neither the company nor the company's former chairman, president, and CEO Howard Schultz provided financial support to the Israeli government and/or the Israeli Army in any way.
"We do not use our profits to fund any government or military operations anywhere – and never have," Starbucks says on its website.
Starbucks revealed that the disinformation about its support to Israel had resulted in violence and vandalism in its several chains around the world. However, it admitted that the company had operated in Israel before it stopped in 2003 due to operational issues.
"We do not make business decisions based on political issues. We decided to dissolve our partnership in Israel in 2003 due to the ongoing operational challenges we experienced in that market."
Previously, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan responded to those who had protested and opposed his company's products which were considered pro-Israel. According to him, the protest arose because of a misunderstanding of Starbucks' stance in the Israel-Hamas context. He said the protest arose due to misrepresentation or false information circulating on social media.