Beirut Starbucks store shut down by protesters

Beirut, Lebanon —- Demonstrators angry with Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip shut down a Starbucks on Tuesday, shouting anti-Israel slogans and causing customers inside to flee.

About one hundred demonstrators converged on the west Beirut coffee shop, waving signs condemning Israel and blocking the door after employees inside turned out the lights.

The protesters said they targeted the store because they claim that Howard Schultz, the company’s CEO, chairman and president, donates money to the Israeli military. “The children of Lebanon and Palestine warn that Starbucks drinks lead to buying deadly weapons,” read one of the banners.

A spokeswoman for the Seattle, Wash.-based conglomerate called accusations Starbucks supports Israel “false” and said the political preferences of one of its employees has no bearing on the company’s policies.