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Arab boycott of American consumer goods spreads
(David Pallister, The Guardian, January 8, 2003)
An informal Arab boycott of American consumer goods has been slowly gathering pace around the Middle East over the past two years as a protest against US support for Israel. . . . Some US companies have reported a drop in sales of between 25 and 40%. The targets include McDonald's and Burger King, Tide and Ariel detergents, Pampers nappies, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Marlboro cigarettes, Hasbro toys, L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, Timberland, Starbucks and Heinz. . . . Two of the six McDonald's franchises in Jordan have closed for lack of business and KFC and McDonald's branches in the Omani capital Muscat said sales had fallen by up to 65%. . . . been given added impetus by declarations from Muslim scholars like Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi of Qatar and Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. He has called on Arabs to replace US products with European and Asian goods in appreciation of the political support of those countries. . . . In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, preacher Sheikh Omar bin Saeed al-Badna has preached that the boycott would be good for the kingdom's local economy. . . . In Beirut, students have protested outside the city's four Starbucks shops, with leaflets spelling out the pro-Israeli sentiments of its chief executive, Howard Shultz, and claiming he is "an active Zionist". . . . The Egyptian Doctors' Syndicate, in what it accepts is a symbolic protest, has sent doctors and pharmacies a list of US-made medical products with alternative local or European products. . . . in Syria, which has one of the more active coordinated campaigns, the government has formally endorsed it.

posted by LoZo 5:47 PM