BTS fandom organizes for Palestine, boycotts HYBE Corporation

Al Jazeera-owned social media publisher AJ+ shared a video Wednesday highlighting the ways that BTS’ fandom, better known as ARMY, is organizing to support families in Gaza and boycott pro-Israel figures working in entertainment.

Following the publication of a video of Palestinian journalist Ahmad Ibraheem uncovering photocards of members of the group in the rubble of Gaza, fans published an open letter to HYBE Corporation from the X account @ARMY4Palestine calling for “the total liberation of Palestine” and “boycott of products and brands that support the Zionist apartheid system, following the lead of the BDS movement.”

Among those brands is HYBE itself, home of BTS whose North American subsidiary is currently led by noted pro-Israel executive Scooter Braun. Fans are urging one another to abstain from purchasing HYBE records and merch, and to stream BTS’ music on unofficial channels, until demands are met.

“As one of the most influential fandoms in the world,” the account’s statement reads in part, “[we] cannot bear to see the systemic oppression of the Palestinian people. We are a group of people around the world who have learned from BTS about the importance of social justice in times of crisis.”

Here's how BTS ARMYs have organized to support families in Gaza and boycott pro-Israel figures working in entertainment. pic.twitter.com/bVYuhoeuPm

— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 19, 2024

To date, @ARMY4Palestine has raised approximately $100,000 for Gaza, while the majority of BTS’ members complete their mandatory military service.

“There’s a Palestine that dwells inside all of us, a Palestine that needs to be rescued: a free Palestine where all people regardless of color, religion, or race coexist; a Palestine where the meaning of the word “occupation” is only restricted to what the dictionary says rather than those plenty of meanings and connotations of death, destruction, pain, suffering, deprivation, isolation and restrictions that Israel has injected the word with.”
― Refaat Alareer, Gaza Writes Back