
Khleo Thomas, known for playing Zero in Holes, violated BDS picket lines and normalized complicity by starring in a promotional Fortnite stream for McDonald's — whose Israeli franchise armed Israel's genocide with free meals.
Khleo Thomas, a Jewish American actor and streamer, violated BDS and endorsed McDonald's amid its documented support for Israel's apartheid and genocide in Gaza.
TV/FILM
Khleo Thomas, born Khaleed Leon Thomas on October 11, 1994, in Anchorage, Alaska, rose to prominence as a child actor portraying Hector "Zero" Zeroni in the 2003 Disney adaptation of Louis Sachar's Holes, a role that highlighted themes of injustice and resilience among marginalized youth.
On August 13, 2025, Thomas headlined a live YouTube stream titled "Visit McDonaldLand, A New Map Created in Fortnite (Featuring Khleo Thomas)," a paid advertisement (#ad) for McDonald's nostalgic McDonaldland campaign. In the stream, he explored a custom Fortnite island code (8640-2715-9839) reviving 1970s McDonaldland characters like Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and Hamburglar, engaging in mini-games and promotional activities.
As part of the event, Thomas ordered a limited-time McDonaldland Adult Happy Meal — featuring a "Mt. McDonaldland" berry shake and collectible tins — and consumed it on camera, touting the meal's tie-in code for exclusive Fortnite cosmetics unlockable only on the map.
This collaboration, launched August 12, 2025, for U.S. customers, comes as McDonald's faces a global BDS boycott for its complicity in Israel's 77-year settler-colonial occupation and ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.
In October 2023, the Israeli franchise — operated by Alonyal Ltd. — publicly donated free meals to Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers amid the bombardment that has slaughtered well into the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, with only conservative estimates confirmed by the Gaza Health Ministry and UN reports.
Silence = Complicity:
For those who have passionately spoken out against other instances of genocide and massacres, yet fall silent when it comes to the suffering endured by Palestinians, their silence becomes a glaring indictment of the value placed on Palestinian lives and perpetuates a dangerous narrative that suggests Palestinian suffering is somehow less worthy of outrage, less deserving of empathy and less human than that of others.
By choosing silence in the face of Palestinian suffering, those with influential platforms inadvertently contribute to the erasure of Palestinian voices and experiences. They perpetuate a narrative of invisibility that allows the injustices inflicted upon Palestinians to continue unabated, shielded from the spotlight of global scrutiny.
Their silence sends a chilling message of complicity to the world – one that suggests Palestinian lives are expendable, their struggles inconsequential and their humanity negotiable. It emboldens perpetrators of violence and oppression, granting them impunity under the guise of indifference.
To remain silent in the face of Palestinian suffering is to betray the very essence of activism – the relentless pursuit of justice for all, without exception or equivocation. It’s a betrayal not only of the Palestinian people but of the universal principles of human dignity and equality and instead is a tacit endorsement of the dehumanization and marginalization of an entire population.
True activism demands consistency and integrity, an unwavering commitment to speaking truth to power and standing in solidarity with the marginalized and oppressed, regardless of geography or politics.
BDS Boycott:
The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement is a global campaign which follows the worldwide boycott movement that led to the successful dismantling of apartheid in South Africa and therefore advocates for various sustained forms of boycott against Israel until it complies with international law.
Founded as a response to the rampant, ongoing and systemic dispossession, displacement, and disenfranchisement endured by generations of Palestinians, the BDS movement is in direct response to the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements, the imposition of discriminatory laws and the denial of basic rights to millions living under occupation, apartheid or in exile with no right of return.
Central to the ethos of BDS is the belief that every purchase and action carries a weighty moral responsibility. To buy goods from or actively support companies or organizations on the BDS list is to cast a vote in favor of perpetuating injustice, a tacit endorsement of the status quo of occupation and discrimination. It’s a direct violation of the collective conscience, a betrayal of the fundamental principles of human rights and dignity.
By pressuring Israel and its supporters by withdrawing support and capital, humanity aims to bring awareness to — and ultimately — end the occupation of Palestine, grant equal rights to all Palestinians and recognize the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. This pressure also extends to any individuals and entities found to be complicit in the normalization, funding or support of Israel’s brutal occupation and 75+ years of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Tell us why Khleo Thomas should be removed by emailing us at [email protected]