Over the past few months, Palestinian ARMYs and their allies in the fandom have taken up one after another initiative to appeal to HYBE, asking them to divest from Zionism in the wake of the indiscriminate violence in Gaza, Palestine unleashed by Israel.
70% killed are women and children in #Gaza.
We urge parties to comply with the @UN Security Council resolution and ceasefire! pic.twitter.com/fViJxMfMyE
— PVA (@PVAenglish) April 1, 2024
Children killed in conflicts:
World (2019-2022): 12,193
Gaza (Oct ’23 – Feb ’24): 12,300
According to UN and Ministry of Health in Gaza
— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) April 3, 2024
#Gaza is being destroyed.
Critical infrastructure including houses, roads, schools, health facilities & @UN buildings have been attacked.
It will take years to remove the estimated 26 million tons of debris & rubble left behind by the war.
Full Report @WorldBank @UN
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 3, 2024
As the entire world erupted in protest, demanding for the civilian onslaught to be stopped, the K-Pop community also tried mobilizing, following the suit of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. For HYBE in particular, one of the biggest demands made by fans was to remove Scooter Braun, the CEO of HYBE America, for his staunch support of the current Israeli government and his problematic posts about the people of Gaza.
Scooter Braun (left) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
To put this demand forward, this group of dissenting fans resorted to all kinds of protests, including trending the hashtag #HYBEDivestFromZionism, petitioning, and then sending a protest truck to the HYBE Seoul headquarters. At each step, however, these fans were met with extreme backlash from people in the same fandom, as they were primarily concerned with how this might affect BTS’s image.
The news of the first protest truck eventually got out of the fandom circle, and when it found its way to a viral Reddit post, many netizens weighed in with their unfiltered opinions.
BTS Army Rent Ad Trucks Asking for Divestment From Zionism and Zionists, Calls for Scooter Braun to be Fired as the CEO of Hybe America
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The majority of the comments expressed astonishment at this direct action taken up by this group of ARMYs, and even praised the movement despite their admitted skepticism of fandom culture.
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Despite being met with aggressive pushback by their own fandom and a possible indirect shade from a HYBE America executive, it seems that the protest truck was a widely admired move outside the fandom circles.
Since then, Palestinian ARMYs and allies have taken even bigger steps to get their voices heard, including a physical demonstration in front of the HYBE America building and sending a second protest truck to the HYBE headquarters very recently.
This is the video that is currently playing on the truck at the entrnce of the building: https://t.co/lMchCQPf9p pic.twitter.com/j35yZ08b9I
— ARMY for Palestine (@ARMY4Palestine) March 29, 2024
HYBE, however, has remained mum on the issue, but has strengthened ties with Scooter Braun through a deal with UMG, raising even bigger red flags among concerned fans.
