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The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
'Israel killed my brother. Now my No Thanks app has 11 million users'
Ibrahim, a Turkish citizen, after having left Gaza in 2008, had returned to the strip for what was supposed to be a short visit to help out their sister Munira. He never left. 'He was drinking tea on the balcony, and they just bombed an entire square,' Ahmed said. 'I know it in Arabic, what it's called, but it's like a multiple airstrike in a specific area. That's what they do. 'And those bombs murdered around 25 people. Between them, my brother.' It was not the first time Ahmed had lost a loved one; he holds Israel responsible for the death of his sister Basma in 2020. She had fallen ill in Gaza, and needed to be transferred to a hospital in Jerusalem in order to receive the appropriate treatment. But the Israeli authorities did not grant permission for the transfer for more than a month. READ MORE: 'I spent 16 months in Gaza amid Israel's genocide. Here's what I saw' 'My father did everything he could, but they didn't let her go,' Ahmed said. When the papers finally arrived, it was too late. Basma died in the ambulance on her way to the hospital." 'I couldn't handle it in the beginning,' Ahmed said, adding that – as with the death of other loved ones, which has become all too common for people in Gaza – the family had tried to do charitable works in Basma's honour after her passing. Then, after Ibrahim's death, Ahmed said he was 'lost'. 'I started to think about a way to do some charity work for him too.' And then came inspiration. On one trip to the supermarket, Ahmed said he got to thinking about how he could be sure to be avoiding Israeli goods – or goods from firms connected with Israel. 'I looked into a few products and I started to think like, 'oh, is this product on the boycott list or not? Should I start googling them? Should I start searching, do this and this?' 'And then I got the idea: I really wish there was a way just to scan the barcode and [it's] done. Here is the answer. Is it in the boycott or not? So that was the core of the idea.' Two weeks later, Ahmed had created the first version of his app No Thanks, which allows users to scan products' barcodes to learn if the company has links to Israel. Less than two years on, it now has more than 11.5 million users. But the success came with drawbacks in his own life. READ MORE: I'm an Israeli trying to help in Gaza. Now our bank account is at risk Living in Budapest after moving to Hungary on a scholarship in 2018, Ahmed – who is now 26 – was undertaking an internship at a major tech firm when he was called into a meeting. 'They told me: 'Sorry, No Thanks made a lot of noise and we'll have to cancel the contract immediately'. 'They even told me that the CEO of [the firm] had a meeting with the CEO of [another major firm] and they both actually had talked about me,' he added. The Israeli boycott movement has proven controversial internationally, with anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) laws in countries such as Germany and the US. READ MORE: Co-op members vote to remove all Israeli products from shelves Ahmed questioned how supposedly free-market societies could try to prevent people from making free choices with their custom – and raised concerns that any business operating out of Israel would pay taxes that go 'to the IDF and supporting killing innocent people'. 'We are now fighting ideology,' he said. 'They want to kill all of the Palestinians, and we are trying to stop that. 'I say it loud and clear, it is a genocide. It is a massacre, a huge massacre happening in Gaza. 'And after that, these countries are coming to blame me for just making an app.' Amid all the peace talks and international deals, one question remains: where is Gaza in all of this? Don't the people of Gaza deserve peace after more than 600 days of genocide? Don't they deserve even the most basic human rights? If world leaders won't act, then we – as… — Ahmed Bashbash (@AhmedBashbash) June 24, 2025 'The boycotts should be our new lifestyle,' Ahmed went on. 'We should stop supporting the people who are actually just looking for wars, looking for destruction, looking for displacing people. 'And if these companies and brands, whoever, don't actually come to our requirement, then we are simply not going to be your customer. That's it.' The runaway success of the app – 11.5 million downloads is twice the population of Palestine, Ahmed notes – has seen a steady income brought in. However, all of it goes on either supporting the servers required for the app to run, or supporting people in [[Gaza]] directly. But with Israel controlling the flow of goods into the strip, it is getting more and more difficult. 'Prices right now in Gaza, inflation will be an easy word for it,' he said. 'A bag of flour will cost you $600 to $700, just for a bag. 'If I wanted to compare it to last year, when I used to buy tents for people … in a week, we used to give 10 to 20 tents. Now, I cannot afford one tent in an entire week. It's too expensive in Gaza right now.' READ MORE: The key points not being talked about in BBC Gaza documentary review Ahmed still has family in Gaza; though his sister Munira managed to escape to Egypt, his brother Hussian remains. But when he has contact with his brother, Ahmed no longer recognises where they grew up. 'It is now all sand or rubble,' Ahmed said of his birthplace in Gaza City. 'When he [Hussian] sent me a picture, I couldn't actually recognise which area it was – even though I lived there for 19 years. 'I actually played on the street every day, every single day till I couldn't see the ball anymore – we didn't have electricity there, so we used to play in the light of the sun. 'When you see it now, you don't see a place of humanity. You see just a bunch of rubble from a zombie movie or something.' A view of Gaza City after Israel's offensive (Image: DAWOUD ABU ALKAS, REUTERS) For Ahmed, his No Thanks app is 'my peaceful way to protest against what's happening in my country and what happened with my family, brother and sister that I lost'. The app is developed by Ahmed's software firm BashSquare – which he explained came from a quip on his name. 'Bashbash. That's my family name actually,' he said. 'It's kind of a joke that my name is Ahmed Bashbash. 'My math teacher in 9th grade used to make fun of me and call me BashSquared – in Arabic, of course. 'He was my best teacher, so I actually took this nickname that he gave me. In Arabic, Bashbash comes from the word called bashasha, which is the smile.' That smile remains on Ahmed's face, enduring through the shadows of airstrikes, exile, and loss. You can download the No Thanks app for Android and iOS on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Express Tribune
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Republicans oppose US anti-boycott bill over free speech concerns
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia says Americans have the right to boycott without government punishment. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article A bipartisan bill in the US Congress aimed at penalising participation in international boycotts against countries friendly to the United States—particularly Israel—is facing pushback from key allies of former President Donald Trump, raising doubts about its future in the House of Representatives. The proposed International Governmental Organization (IGO) Anti-Boycott Act, introduced in January by Republican Representative Mike Lawler and Democrat Josh Gottheimer, seeks to expand a 2018 law. That law criminalises participation in foreign-government-led boycotts and imposes penalties of up to $1 million in fines and 20 years in prison. The new proposal would broaden its reach to include boycotts instigated by international governmental organisations, such as those imposed by the United Nations. While the bill does not explicitly name Israel, lawmakers backing the legislation have said it is aimed at targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which urges economic pressure on Israel over its policies towards Palestinians and its settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. Despite longstanding Republican support for anti-BDS measures, a wave of opposition has emerged from within Trump's conservative base. Firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Monday that a scheduled House vote on the bill had been cancelled. She criticised the legislation as prioritising foreign interests over Americans' constitutional rights. 'It is my job to defend Americans' rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose without government punishment,' Greene wrote on social media. 'Why are we voting on a bill for other countries instead of executive orders that support our own?' Prominent right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk echoed Greene's concerns, saying, 'In America, you are allowed to disagree and protest. Free speech is a birthright.' Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, endorsed both statements online, signalling a broader ideological split within the right-wing movement over the bill's implications for civil liberties. Opponents, including rights groups and several members of Congress, argue the legislation could infringe upon the First Amendment by penalising peaceful protest and dissent. Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida also voiced opposition to the bill, saying: 'I reject antisemitism but I cannot violate the First Amendment. Americans have the right to boycott.' Legal experts note that similar anti-BDS laws have faced constitutional challenges in multiple states, with mixed outcomes in court. The backlash comes amid a broader effort by Trump-era officials to suppress criticism of Israel, particularly on US college campuses. The former president's administration has revoked student visas and threatened to withhold federal funds from universities over pro-Palestinian protests. One such case involves Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student detained since March for co-authoring an op-ed supporting her university's call to divest from companies linked to Israel. Trump has also targeted institutions like Harvard, accusing them of fostering anti-Israel sentiment and threatening funding cuts in response to growing student activism. While the IGO Anti-Boycott Act continues to receive bipartisan sponsorship in Congress, the emerging rift among Republicans—particularly from Trump's base—has introduced significant hurdles to its passage. As the debate over the balance between support for Israel and the protection of free speech intensifies, the bill's future remains uncertain.
