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In
Australia
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Peace Action views boycotting “as a positive and powerful
alternative to fighting for peace.” They provide lists of
companies that are connected to warmongering.
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International Green parties and their supporters developed a
charter for boycotting US oil companies like Exxon. The charter
includes principles of social justice, sustainability and
respect for diversity.
In
Belgium
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Citoyens-Consommateurs Scandalises par la Politique
Internationale des Etats-Unis called for a boycott against
American oil companies.
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Peace Activists organized an International Anti-War Boycott Day
on April 15, 2003 closing oil stations in protest against the
role of Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco in the 2003 war in Iraq.
The organizers of the campaign see the US as a growing danger
because of its unilateral policies that are based on
self-interest.
In
Bahrain
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The owner of Al Muntaza Supermarket chain stopped selling US
products. As Al Muntaza’s sales increased, other supermarkets
adopted the same policy.
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Sales of the local McDonalds chain went down by 40%.
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Dealers of American cars and computers lost business.
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In
Bosnia
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The economic boycott spread to Bosnia from Saudi Arabia. Women
in Sarajevo called on all people to boycott products of
companies that support Israel; Bosnian women displayed the logos
of 64 international corporations.
In
Brazil
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Instituto Brasileiro de Defesa do Consumidor (IDEC) – a
respectable NGO – has been active online and offline,
supporting a boycott against US products.
In
Denmark
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Actresses of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata launched a sex
boycott campaign: They urged women to withhold conjugal rights
from their partners if the latters continued to supported the
war on Iraq.
European
Parliament
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Members of the European Parliament Bart Staes, Nelly Maes,
Miquel Mayol and Jan Roegiers called upon activists across
Europe to support a worldwide economic boycott. Nelly Maes
stated, “By buying US products today consumers contribute
their money for the bombs and bullets which hit Iraq and its
people.”
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The European Social Forum – involving organizations from many
countries – called for a boycott against US oil companies.
In
Egypt
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Kate3.com, a network of NGOs, urges consumers to boycott US
products.
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The Association of Egyptian Pharmacists called for boycotting
all products made in the US as a means of protest against the US
support to Israeli occupation.
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With the help of economic experts, Ahmed Bahaa Edeen, Head of
the Egyptian Society for Boycotting Zionist and American
Products, prepared a boycott list that included Israeli, US and
European products. The Society believes that boycotting Western
products will be in the benefit of locally-made products.
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Howard Schneider of The Washington Post observed: “Between a
global recession and a well-organized Arab boycott of US
products, however, trade between the United States and Arab
countries is down about 25 percent since last year. [2001].”
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Journalists, artists, pharmacists and engineers have led a
campaign to boycott Israeli products.
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Branch managers of McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken
admitted that their sales have fallen by 20-50% since the
Intifada.
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In
Germany
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In
Greece
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The Ecologists Greens used mass media, e-mails and brochures to
spread the word about a boycott of US products. They asked
participants in the International Anti-War Boycott Day, April
15, 2003, to boycott the “economy of war.”
In
the Gulf
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In
India
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In
Indonesia
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International
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International Group for Direct Economic Action (IDEA) is
campaigning for a flexible boycott, encouraging consumers to do
what makes the most sense. IDEA member Richard Rosenthal states,
“If you say you are for peace, you shouldn’t buy war.”
Patrick Jones, another IDEA member, says, “As trade
globalization turns more and more of the world into a market, we
have less and less power as citizens, but more and more power as
consumers. While we would like to regain true political
sovereignty, in the interim we can deploy our consumer power to
good effect.”
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Crescent International reported this year that McDonalds, Burger
King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, Coke and Pepsi sales in
the Middle East dropped by 65%.
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Alternatives for US products have been produced; these include
Iran’s Zamzam Cola, the UAE’s Star Cola and France’s Mecca
Cola.
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In
Iran
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Consumers boycott companies like Starbucks, Nike and McDonalds.
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The Iranian government banned all commercials that advertise for
US products.
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In
Japan
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Peace Choice Campaign prepared a list of targeted US companies
to be boycotted.
In
Jordan
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The Committee for Defending the Nation and Countering
Normalization called for a reversed boycott, asking Jordanians
to refuse to provide goods and services to US troops stationed
in Jordan. They also called upon citizens to boycott US goods
and buy French and German products instead.
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In Jordan, Lebanon and Syria some private hospitals stopped
buying products from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and other US
companies.
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Links:
In
Lebanon
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Act Now, led by Nisrine Mansour, called for a boycott of US
goods and companies that have dealings with Israel. Act Now held
sit-ins outside McDonald’s and Starbucks, the popular coffee
shop in Beirut.
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Smokers of Marlboro cigarettes switched to French and local
brands.
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Seyyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah called upon Arabs to buy
European and Asian products instead of US products in
appreciation of the political support of these countries.
In
Malaysia
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In
Morocco
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The newspapers L’Economiste and Assabah launched a campaign
against the US dollar, urging Moroccans to use the Euro instead
of the dollar.
In
New Zealand
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Spend for Peace calls upon consumers to boycott specific US
brands like Dow and Dupont.
In
Niger
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In
Norway:
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In
Pakistan
The
Citizens Peace Committee (CPC) launched a boycott campaign in
April, 2003. Their leaflet states, “Part of the income from
the sale of these goods goes to the US and Israel, and is being
used to rain bombs on Iraq.” The boycotted brands include Coca
Cola, Sprite, Pepsi and 7-Up as well as McDonalds.
In
Palestine
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In
Russia
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In
Saudi Arabia
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It was the dismay of the Saudi women at what was happening to
women and children in Palestine that ignited the boycott
campaign in Saudi Arabia. The boycott targeted Israeli products
and US interests.
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With growing awareness of their own economic power as consumers,
Saudi women targeted US cosmetic brands such as Estee Lauder,
Aramis, Clinique, Aveda and perfumes such as Tommy Hilfiger and
Kate Spade.
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A Yemeni pharmaceutical manufacturer refused to recognize a
Letter of Credit for a container of antipyretic ingredients
because they were of US origin. Instead, he sought suppliers of
Chinese origin.
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An employee at a well-known fast food chain said, “Today from
morning till afternoon, we had only two customers at our
branch.”
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A manager of a supermarket in Jeddah commented: “Sales of
American goods have fallen by about 20 percent and this is set
to increase over the next few weeks due to the rapid increase in
the number of people who are joining the campaign.”
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Sales manager of bin Dawood supermarket said that Coca Cola
sales went down by 60%, Pepsi Cola’s sales went down by 45%
and Proctor and Gamble’s sales went down by 30-35%.
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Many Saudi consumers shifted to European and Japanese products.
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Boycott leaflets are distributed at mosques, schools and
shopping malls.
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The US embassy in Saudi Arabia got worried at Saudis boycotting
US products. “The fact is that the impact of the boycott is
very significant… Yes, we are concerned. But exactly how big
this impact is very hard to determine without a detailed
study,” Charley Kestenbaum, the US embassy's commercial
officer, said to Reuters in June 20, 2002.
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In
South Africa
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The Iraq Action Committee called for a wholesale boycott of all
US goods.
In
Syria
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In
Sweden
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In
Switzerland
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In
Thailand
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In
the United Arab Emirates:
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Women and journalist organizations have been at the forefront of
the boycott campaign, asking Emiratis to stop buying US products
and to try alternatives.
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Students at the University of Sharjah led a campus boycott. A
petition was circulated calling on the administration to
discontinue the sale of US products. Alternatives were
suggested.
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Links:
In
the United Kingdom
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Green Peace, in their “Stop Esso” campaign, went to Esso
headquarters in Surrey, which resulted in a closure – 100 Esso
garages were closed for a few hours. Green Peace accused
Esso’s parent company Exxon Mobil of being a driving force
behind President Bush’s war on Iraq.
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The Stop the War Coalition supported Green Peace in their
boycott against Esso.
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In London’s Hyde Park, where protesters gathered, 36,000
bottles of Mecca Cola and Zamzam Cola were distributed as likely
alternatives to Pepsi and Coca Cola.
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In Scotland, 14-year old Faith Mackie produced her own boycott
leaflets. Her father Dr. Bill Mackie said: “I am proud of the
fact she is strong-willed on these moral issues. She does not
know how many people will follow her lead, but she feels she had
to do something…”
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In
the United States
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Korean War veteran Sanford M. Russell said, “I’ve started a
personal boycott on products with a ‘Made in USA’ label.”
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Be the Cause are organizing a consumer-targeted boycott against
brand names such as Kraft and Philip Morris.
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Adbusters – an influential magazine and web-site – have
launched a “Boycott Brand America” campaign asking consumers
to boycott American corporate brands.
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Office of Anti-Boycott Compliance in the Bureau of Expert
Administration, US Department of Commerce, fines companies that
are proved to have participated in any boycott against Israel.
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The American Decency Association – a Christian organization
– says that “a boycott places a standard before people that
otherwise would not be placed. People need to know that there
are individuals who are deeply concerned with standards, values,
ethics, issues of right and wrong and decency in the public
market place… Publicity about a boycott educates a wide range
of people to the concern that is addressed by the boycott.”
The American Decency Association is concerned with corporations
that victimize children and families through the products that
they produce, sell or rent.
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Peacelink – a group of peace activists – believes that
“the impact of a boycott would significantly impact the
consciousness of US residents who are increasingly questioning
the current leadership, and it will send a strong message to
political leaders around the world.” They advocate a mass
boycott of US products.
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A coalition of organizations led by American Muslims for
Jerusalem announced the end of a three-week boycott against
Burger King. The announcement came after the corporation
canceled its Israeli franchisee’s right to sell products in
the West Bank settlement Ma’ale Adumim.
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