A mass boycott drive was launched after the Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000

CAIRO, December 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Businesses selling American brand names, products and services in the Middle East fear that a U.S.-led war in Iraq would trigger an even stronger Arab boycott campaign against them.

Organizers of the 25-month campaign told Agence France-Presse (AFP) they were preparing to revive the boycott to protest not only against war in Iraq but also an escalation of Israeli military aggression against the Palestinians.

A mass boycott drive was launched after the Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000, and was intensified when Israel reoccupied the West Bank at the end of March 2001 before it lost steam three months later, businessmen said.
A third wave could be even stronger, they fear.

"The coming wave is going to be a tsunami wave, a catastrophe," warned Mahmoud el-Kaissouni, an executive with an Egyptian industry association representing 22 fast food chains.

Sales at more than 550 fast food restaurants in Egypt dropped by around 20 percent in April and plunged by 65 percent at the end of June before returning to normal in October and November, said Kaissouni.

People like Kaissouni have fought back in the media, saying the boycott is mainly missing the intended target and hitting Arab businesses, as many U.S. franchises are Arab-owned and many products are made regionally under license. He urged the Egyptian government to help wage a counter-campaign.

Though the boycott hit fast food franchises in Egypt and other Arab countries hardest, it also undercut sales of soft drinks, as well as a range of supermarket and pharmaceutical products in the region, industry sources said.

In Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, some private hospitals stopped buying products from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), but most have since resumed purchases, said Mustafa Hassan, BMS vice president for sales and marketing in the Middle East.

Hassan, based in Cairo, said the pharmacists' syndicate in Egypt had agreed verbally with pharmaceutical firms not to boycott U.S. brand names made under license in Egypt, which account for 91 percent of the Egyptian market.

However, he said a few pharmacists earlier this year refused to prescribe even Egyptian-made products and he expected them to lead a new boycott wave if there is a U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"They will do it for sure if there's an attack on Iraq," Hassan said in a telephone interview. "It may start in the remote areas (outside Cairo and Alexandria), but spread to other areas as well."

A U.S. official in the region said the boycott appears to have eased for now and he had no information to indicate that it had hurt anything other than non-durable U.S. goods, though he admitted there were fears it could flare up again.

The bulk of U.S. exports to the region come in the form of capital goods and equipment, such as planes and computers, as well as agricultural commodities like wheat.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said here in June that the boycott was "disturbing" as it created an "environment which makes it harder for U.S. businesses to operate," but that it would hurt Egyptians more than Americans.

Lists continue to circulate in the region with hundreds of brand names to be boycotted, including McDonald's and Burger King outlets, Tide and Ariel detergents, Pampers, Coca Cola and Pepsi, Marlboro cigarettes, and Heinz ketchup.

The campaign also includes calls for a boycott of Israeli goods, and gives tips on how to identify Israeli products exported from third countries.

Kaissouni also fears that British brand names could also be targeted in a new campaign, a fear backed up by the boycott planners.

Boycott campaigner Abdel Aziz al-Husseiny said a conference was planned for late January 2003 in Damascus to devise a grassroots strategy for a boycott of U.S., Israeli and British products because of events in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

It is being organized by a committee of grassroots organizations including professional associations and unions in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, said Husseiny.