The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement — which urges economic pressure on Israel and firms it links to the state — has told supporters that Marvel Studios and its parent company Disney are still on its boycott list.
In an Instagram post on Friday, BDS tied the renewed call to Marvel’s decision to bring back the comic-book character Sabra in Captain America: Brave New World. The movement said the film’s casting and the character’s history keep Disney on its target list.
Why BDS is targeting Sabra
BDS described Sabra as “racist” and “anti-Palestinian”. It noted that the character’s original 1980s comic version was written as an agent of Mossad — Israel’s intelligence service — and said “Sabra has long glorified settler-colonial violence against Palestinians”.
The post also focused on Shira Haas, the actor who played Sabra in the film. BDS said Haas is Israeli and a former member of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). According to the movement, she had been exempted from mandatory service on medical grounds but chose to enlist anyway.
Disney’s Israel operations and earlier film boycotts
BDS contrasted Disney’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — when the company suspended operations there, citing a humanitarian crisis — with what it said was Disney’s continued presence in Israel. The movement claimed Disney still runs a subsidiary and two television channels in Israel three years into what BDS called Israel’s invasion of Palestine, which the post said experts worldwide have judged a genocide.
The group also said boycott campaigns against Captain America: Brave New World and Snow White — the latter starring Israeli cultural ambassador Gal Gadot — left both films commercially unsuccessful. BDS presented that outcome as evidence that economic pressure can work.
What supporters are being asked to do
BDS asked followers to stop buying Marvel merchandise and to cancel Disney+ subscriptions until Disney removes Sabra from its roster of heroes.
The reminder comes alongside a separate boycott push by pro-Palestine activists against Spider-Man: Brand New Day, produced by Avi Arad, whom they identify as a former IDF member. A Lebanese organisation that campaigns for economic pressure on Israel called paying for projects tied to pro-Israel figures a form of “cultural normalisation” and urged people not to buy tickets.
Aasan alfaaz mein
BDS ne phir kaha hai ke Marvel aur Disney ab bhi boycott list par hain. Wajah yeh hai ke film Captain America: Brave New World mein Sabra naam ka character wapas laaya gaya. Group fans se kehta hai ke Marvel ka saman na khareedein aur Disney+ band kar dein jab tak yeh character hataaya na jaye. Jo log streaming ya cinema tickets lete hain, unke liye yeh ek personal choice ka masla hai — support dena ya na dena.
