Military activism in Malaysia and its boycott towards McDonald’s Malaysia: a case study of Palestine Israel conflict

The debate over whether the conflict between Palestine and Israel a geopolitical or religious conflict continues without resolution. Rather than uniting to pursue a common goal of fighting the violence and injustice committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, military activism in Malaysia tends to turn various issues related to the conflict into matters of concern. This includes calls to boycott products with connections to Israel, particularly American brands such as McDonald's. Therefore, this study aims to examine the determining factors behind their boycott of the McDonald's brand, their responses, and implications in the Malaysian market. Using a qualitative narrative review as a method, this study takes the period from 2014 to 2023 in Scopus and Google Scholar when calls to boycott McDonald's products became a military activism in Malaysia. The findings of this study reveal that McDonald's Malaysia has experienced negative impacts due to religion, humanity and justice motivated as well as social pressure. The study's analysis is narrative review based on primary sources such as media statements and social media posts, supported by secondary sources such as online news and broadcast news. The discussion in this study concludes that the boycott of McDonald's Malaysia stems from deep-seated religious sensitivities, particularly concerning the sanctity of Palestine as a holy land, as well as from humanitarian and justicedriven sentiments in response to the oppression faced by the Palestinian people. The boycott also serves as an effort to distance oneself from potential negative social perceptions.