Inditex

Inditex is a Spanish fashion conglomerate that owns Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka and others, and operates as the world's largest apparel retailer, controlled by the Ortega family with Amancio Ortega holding +50% ownership. The company is a target for boycott do to its brand Zara various anti Palestinian sentiments and its expansion in Israel during the genocide.

Complicity in Israeli Apartheid Through Zara Operations

The Palestinian BDS National Committee officially endorsed boycotting Zara in 2025, citing Inditex's

deep and growing complicity in Israel's regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid, and genocide.

Zara opened its largest-ever Israeli store in February 2025, a 4,500-square-meter facility in Tel Aviv, as Gaza genocide death tolls exceeded 80,000 Palestinians.

Joey Schwebel, president of Trimera Brands operating Zara's 84 Israeli stores, hosted campaign events for ultranationalist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in 2022. Ben-Gvir faces 53 indictments for racial incitement and openly advocates expelling Palestinians and denying humanitarian aid to Gaza. Following Schwebel's event, Ben-Gvir publicly thanked him on social media.

In June 2021, Vanessa Perilman, Zara's head designer, sent racist Instagram messages to Palestinian model Qaher Harhash, dismissing Palestinian suffering. Despite public backlash, Inditex took no disciplinary action against Perilman. Zara's December 2023 "The Jacket" campaign featured mannequins wrapped in white shrouds among rubble, imagery resembling shrouded Palestinian bodies from Gaza's destruction, launching during Israel's military assault.

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Factory Disasters and Labor Exploitation

Inditex sourced from facilities involved in one of Bangladesh's deadliest industrial disasters, including the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse that killed 1,138 workers. Despite the incident, 40 Bangladeshi supplier facilities lacking fire alarm systems and many having inadequate emergency exits.

Brazilian government investigations discovered workers in "slave-like conditions" including 15 migrants working 16-19 hours daily under debt bondage. The Ministry of Labor documented 7,000 affected workers over three years, 84 workplace accidents, and 22 cases of "excessive work" exceeding 16 hours daily. Inditex faced R$25 million in fines after losing court cases and appeals.

At Turkey's Bravo Tekstil factory producing 75% of its output for Zara, 140 workers were left unpaid for three months totalling €650,000 when the factory closed overnight in July 2016.

In Bangladesh, around 2,900 workers in Zara's supply chain face criminal charges for participating in 2023 wage protests, with four workers killed by police during crackdowns.

Environmental Destruction and Systematic Greenwashing

Earthsight investigations revealed nearly 1 million tons of cotton that serves H&M and Inditex are linked to illegal deforestation of 25,000+ hectares in Brazilian ecosystems, sourced from companies with $4.5 million in environmental fines. The cotton came from suppliers with repeated violations for illegal deforestation, land-grabbing, and violence against communities.

Supply Chain Opacity Despite Transparency Claims

Despite claiming "industry-leading traceability systems," Inditex refuses to publish supplier lists that competitors routinely disclose. The company processes 17 million tons of products annually through undisclosed supplier networks, preventing independent verification of standards.

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