“Holidays are coming”, in association with Coca-Cola. But this year an awkward truth is chasing them all the way.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is currently tailing the annual Coca Cola Christmas truck tour across the UK, in a bid to persuade shoppers to boycott Coca-Cola this festive season.
An ad-van branded as part of PSC’s Don’t Buy Apartheid campaign is joining local PSC activists who are staging protests at truck-stop locations.
Coca-Cola and land theft
PSC says its own van’s presence aims to counter the soft-drink giant’s high-profile seasonal advertising. And it’s exposing the truth about Coke’s role in helping Israel sustain its theft and military occupation of Palestinian land.
Coca-Cola’s exclusive franchisee in Israel, the Central Bottling Company, operates a regional distribution centre and cooling houses in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone. This is an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.
In July 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion which found that Israel’s decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory was unlawful. Also that its “near-complete separation” of people in the occupied West Bank breached international laws concerning racial segregation and apartheid.
Corporations that are enabling these violations of international law must be held accountable.
PSC argues that through its operations in the Atatrot Settlement Industrial Zone, Coca-Cola is providing the economic underpinning for Israel’s control of Palestinian land, and fuelling Israel’s escalating violence across the West Bank.
Seeing past the branding
Ben Jamal, PSC Director said:
The Coca-Cola truck purports to symbolise Christmas cheer but behind the festive lights and expensive advertising lies the company’s very real involvement in Israel’s land theft and military occupation.
By operating facilities in an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem, Coke is giving the green light to Israel’s ongoing military assaults and ethnic cleansing across the West Bank.
This Christmas, we’re urging the public to look beyond holiday branding and consider the real-world impact of what they buy.
By boycotting Coca-Cola, we can hit the corporation’s profits and ensure it faces real consequences for enabling Israel’s crimes.
Choosing apartheid-free options is a simple but powerful act of solidarity with Palestinians.
PSC’s action and call for a boycott follows criticism already facing Coca-Cola’s 2025 Christmas campaign. This includes recent media coverage of the public backlash against the brand’s AI-generated holiday advert.
PSC states it hopes to ensure this year’s conversation also includes scrutiny of the human rights impacts of Coca-Cola’s business operations.
PSC’s Don’t Buy Apartheid Campaign highlights corporate complicity
PSC is calling on shops, cafés and venues across Britain to stop stocking two product categories:
Firstly, Israeli agricultural produce, including avocados, peppers, herbs and dates. These commonly come from Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law.
All of Israel’s settlements have been judged to be unlawful by the world court – the International Court of Justice. They sit on land forcibly taken from Palestinians and rely on resources unlawfully extracted from occupied territory.
Secondly, Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola’s exclusive franchisee in Israel operates facilities in an Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.
This corporate presence contributes to entrenching settlement infrastructure and therefore forms part of Israel’s system of military occupation and apartheid.
PSC’s call comes amid Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and escalating military assaults, land grabs and settler violence across the occupied West Bank.
In 2025 alone, Israeli forces have killed over 220 Palestinians in the West Bank. Meanwhile 1,500 Palestinian homes and structures have been demolished to make way for Israel’s expanding illegal settlements.
The organisation is urging retailers to instead stock what it calls “apartheid-free alternatives”. These include locally sourced or ethically certified soft drinks such as Gaza Cola.
PSC argues that such boycotts offer people in the UK a meaningful way to support human rights and push global brands like Coca-Cola to act in line with international law.
Featured image via Palestine Solidarity Campaign
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.