Jakarta (ANTARA) – Muslim scholar Prof. Nadirsyah Hosen from Melbourne University, Australia reminded the entire public that skepticism is very important when looking at the issue of boycotting a number of companies suspected of being affiliated with Israel.
“We do not refuse to boycott it as long as it is truly affiliated with Israel. However, don’t let it be because of hatred for one product, it ends up harming your own nation,” said Hosen in an official statement in Jakarta, Wednesday.
Hosen highlighted that various sites claiming to prove a product’s Israeli affiliation often have different output.
According to him, the affiliated data had already been entered into the platform first.
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“When we enter the name of the product, if it is on the list, the results clearly show that the product is affiliated with Israel,” he said.
Therefore, the public is reminded that boycott strategies that are not based on facts can be dangerous, not only for the brands being targeted but also for consumers themselves.
In that context, Hosen considers that the BDS Movement platform is more valid in presenting a list of Israeli-affiliated products because it uses a more strategic and data-based approach.
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Hosen emphasized that it is very important for consumers to do research and check information before getting caught up in narratives that may be driven by certain business interests.
“Separating facts from opinion and propaganda would certainly be a wise step to avoid wider negative impacts,” he said.
Lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Technology, UIN Bandung, Wisnu Uriawan, also added that the digital platform is open, so that everyone can input their product data.
“For example, if people are not comfortable with a product, it can be included on the platform so that it will appear as if the product is affiliated with Israel, even though it is not,” he said.
Uriawan emphasized the importance of validating information which can be used as a form of supervision of parties who have certain goals by deliberately inputting products to make it appear as if the product is on the list of affiliates with Israel.
Therefore, he invited the public not to just trust the product list and asked students to have a good critical level in filtering information on digital platforms.
Also read: Ulama: You need to be careful about boycotting products so that they don’t have an impact on the economy
Also read: UII: Boycotting Israeli products should not be for business competition
Reporter: Hreeloita Dharma Shanti
Editor: Zita Meirina
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