KFC has never been on the list of brands to boycott, the Malaysian chapter of pressure group Boycott, Divert, and Sanction for Palestine (BDS Malaysia) said today.

This was because KFC had not done what McDonald’s did, which was to provide the Israeli military with free meals from its branch in Israel, BDS Malaysia chairperson Nazari Ismail said in a statement on Instagram.

“For your information, KFC has never been on the BDS Malaysia boycott list.

“We have never campaigned for Malaysians to boycott KFC from before until now,” he clarified.

He added that there were customers who refused to purchase KFC products because of the expensive price rather than because of Palestine support.

Earlier this month, media reports claimed that 108 KFC outlets have been temporarily shuttered, based on Google Map data.

The Straits Times quoted an anonymous source from QSR Brands, which manages KFC, who attributed the closures to the impact of a public boycott and that it could be viewed as an opportunity to cease some of the KFC store operations that have weighed on its balance sheet.

There are more than 600 KFC restaurants in Malaysia operated by QSR, which is now owned by the Johor state government’s Johor Corporation.

BDS Malaysia previously urged the government to exclude any company known to be “complicit in genocide in Gaza” from any state procurement contracts.

The companies include defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin, tech giant Google, and oil and gas company Caltex/Chevron.

Other companies listed by BDS Malaysia included:

  • BAE Systems

  • Caterpillar

  • Siemens

  • JC Bamford

  • HD Hyundai

  • Intel

  • Hikvision

  • TKH Security

The companies in the list have been singled out for various reasons, including supplying equipment directly used in violence against Palestinians or for deep investments in the country.

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