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Boycott Meets Objectives
CAIRO, Feb 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An Arab boycott of Israeli and U.S. products seems to have scored its goals, according to a report in Monday's edition of the Washington Post.
The U.S. newspaper said an Arab boycott has cost prominent U.S. restaurant chains "as much as 20% of sales compared to last year", according to Business Monthly, published by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.
The call to boycott U.S. products targeted brands such as Coca-Cola, which has also reported a drop in sales. Not only American companies, but also British ones as well, such as Sainsbury's Supermarkets. The retail chain said it has suffered high percentage losses.
Violence committed by the Israeli government against Palestinians triggered Arab and Muslim nations to boycott virtually all American and Israeli commodities. Most Muslim and Arab Internet sites have encouraged such action, and Arab satellite television channels have blanketed the region with calls for resistance.
"The situation is born out of frustration," said Hisham Fahmy, the Chamber of Commerce's executive director quoted in Business Monthly. "There aren't many options for people to blow out their anger . . . They go for the easy symbols that they can follow."
In that environment, the idea of a boycott against American products took root quickly as a way for Arabs to show their backing for Palestinians.
Arab nations see that just eating or drinking at McDonald's or any other "Jewish" or American company was against God's law in these days of the Palestinian uprising, with individuals feeling guilty if they did not follow others in the boycott.
People are quietly convinced that avoiding American products will help curb blatant U.S. support for Israel and help bridle Israel's use of force against the Palestinians, the Washington Post said.
Those symbols are plentiful throughout most Arab countries, as once closed economies have begun to open and hundreds of American, European and other foreign franchises have arrived.
The movement has not been just economic. In Cairo, anti-Israeli protests at one university ended with the ransacking of a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in the center of the city.
Other attacks were directed against the British grocery chain Sainsbury's because of highly sounded rumors that its owners were Jewish. In Damascus, crowds gathered to burn what few American products could be acquired in Syria, where finding a Coke can be a challenge.
And arguments stating that boycotting U.S. businesses, echoed by most officials in Arab countries, does more harm to local businesses rather than the parent company, does not impact on citizens' decisions.
Many insist on keeping up the boycott they consider, in addition to their prayers, the least they can do for their compatriots in Palestine.
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