Massive win for Jordan BDS as French retail giant Carrefour closes all stores

French retail giant Carrefour has announced the closure of all its branches in Jordan as of Monday 4 November, following a concerted boycott campaign targeting pro-Israel companies in the kingdom.

The retail giant made the announcement on Facebook stating: "As of November 4, 2024, Carrefour will cease all operations in Jordan and will no longer operate within the Kingdom".

The Carrefour franchise in Jordan was held by Emirati company Majid Al Futtaim, which has announced that the former Carrefour stores will be reopened as "brand-new Arab grocery chain" under the new name "HyperMax".

While Carrefour did not elaborate on the reason behind the closure, the development comes amid an intensive and widespread boycott campaign in Jordan which has targeted Carrefour alongside other international companies perceived to be pro-Israel.

The campaign has seen the backing of the vast majority of Jordanians – with 93 percent stating in a poll last November that they were committed to boycotting products from countries supportive of Israel and its war on Gaza.

"This is an important victory, and one of the boycott's successes which really proves that this popular, ethical act of struggle can generate results," Hamza Al-Khader from Jordan BDS told The New Arab.

While  a global boycott campaign against Carrefour predated Israel's current war on Gaza with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement identifying Carrefour as a target in 2022, Jordan BDS massively stepped up its campaign against the supermarket chain since Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza began.

Khader and other activists accused Carrefour of providing food parcels to Israeli soldiers amid the brutal war on Gaza, but this was denied by the supermarket chain in a statement sent to The New Arab.

"Carrefour operates in Israel through a franchise agreement with an independent company. Contrary to rumours circulating on social media, this Israeli company provides no material support to the military," it said.

"As for the photos of food parcel donations to soldiers, these were individual initiatives that did not involve the Israeli franchisee, and the photographs were immediately removed," Carrefour added.

On September 13, Jordan BDS posted a video on X showing empty Carrefour branches and stating "10 Carrefour stores have closed so far".

The group posted "We will continue escalating the boycott campaign  […] until the Majid Al Futtaim Group breaks its partnership with the French consortium and discontinues [its use of] the Carrefour trademark".

The boycott campaigns in Jordan have targeted international – especially American - conglomerates in various sectors.

For example, petrol stations, like Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex, have been targeted for boycott, alongside American restaurant chains like MacDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut, and fashion retailers like Zara.

While some Jordanians are worried about the economic ramifications of boycotting global corporations which employ thousands of their compatriots, others have pointed to the potential benefits of a more self-reliant economy.

Khader says Carrefour's exit from Jordan "in itself" shows how the boycott of such companies can actually generate positive results for Jordan's economy.

"Majid Al Futtaim was an agent for Carrefour in Jordan. And now it's dropped that partnership, the employees haven't lost their jobs, as it's opened a local business firm, doing the same work, with the same capacity to employ staff," he explains.

"But you can't just measure these things in terms of wins and losses – there are other factors pushing us in terms of our culture, our identity, and our commitment to ethics and values," he adds.

The overall average loss in revenue of companies targeted by the boycott movement is estimated at around 75 percent – a significant loss which in the case of Carrefour, is believed to have contributed to its closure.

Amman Chamber of Commerce member Alaa El Dirania said to The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister edition that the boycott was clearly having an impact on a number of trade sectors, which was evident in terms of falling demand.

He said that this was a clear response to Israel's aggression in the Gaza Strip, which he said had cast a shadow over all sectors in Jordan.

He added that many commercial stores and enterprises targeted by the boycott had witnessed a slump in business, and some had closed, or reduced production.

The Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan ran a questionnaire in November 2023, the results of which showed that 93% of Jordanians were committed to boycotting products from countries supportive of Israel and its war on Gaza, and at least 95% participated in "boycotting American/foreign products, turning to locally made alternatives".