I Am Adding Cameron Mitchell to My Boycott List

If Cameron Mitchell chooses to support the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) while Palestinians are being killed, displaced, and devastated, then he should be prepared to answer for that choice. There is nothing “neutral” about supporting institutions that critics accuse of contributing to the suffering of Palestinian civilians.

I stand with Baladna: Palestine Society of Columbus and its boycott efforts against businesses and individuals that support or enable Israel’s actions against Palestinians. Baladna is a newly established, 100% volunteer-run nonprofit organization.

For that reason, I am adding Cameron Mitchell to my boycott list.

You do not get to profit from a community and then demand silence when people criticize your choices. Supporting human rights means speaking up when innocent civilians are suffering. It means saying NO to genocide. NO to ethnic cleansing. NO to the killing and displacement of Palestinians.

Cameron Mitchell is the founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants (CMR), headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company has grown into a major restaurant operation, and Mitchell has long emphasized his commitment to his profession and to the community he calls home.

That commitment raises an important question: What responsibility does a prominent business leader have when organizations he supports are connected, directly or indirectly, to a government and military accused of grave abuses against Palestinians?

The FIDF describes itself as an organization providing support for the health, well-being, and education of Israeli soldiers. Critics, including Palestinian advocates, argue that financial support for the organization ultimately helps sustain Israel’s military establishment while Palestinians are enduring death, displacement, destruction, and deprivation.

I cannot separate those realities.

While Palestinians face the destruction of homes, loss of land, displacement, and violence, I believe businesses and their leaders should be held accountable for the organizations they choose to support financially.

We should not look away. We should not excuse suffering. And we should not remain silent when innocent people are killed or forced from their homes.

That is what standing for human rights means to me.

So, thank you to Baladna for bringing attention to businesses and individuals whose financial choices deserve public scrutiny.

Cameron Mitchell is now on my boycott list.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes about U.S. foreign policy, Middle Eastern affairs, and justice.