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Frequently asked Questions (FAQ) about the Boycott
1. What is the
boycott?
The boycott of Israeli products and
companies supporting the Zionist entity is about ordinary people around the
world using their right to choose what they buy in order to help bring about
an end to oppression in Palestine. Its a peaceful means of putting
international pressure on the racist state of Israel and follows in the
footsteps of the successful boycott against South African racist apartheid.
2. Are you
boycotting all Jews?
Certainly not! The boycott is not
directed at any religious or ethnic group, but rather it is directed at those
companies that are supporting the racist occupation of Palestine. A quick
glance at the boycott list will testify to this. We do not discriminate
between the supporters of Israel - if a Muslim company is caught collaborating
with Israel we will boycott it just as vigorously as any other company.
Muslims & Jews united against zionism at the recent Quds Day rally
3. Who supports
the boycott, what do our Ulema say about it?
People of good conscience all around the
world support the boycott.
Trade Unions around the world, including
the UKs biggest trade union UNISON with its 1.4 million members, have called
for a boycott of all Israeli goods. Christian groups like Christian Aid have
joined the boycott demanding an end to EU - Israel trade agreements. And
Jewish groups such as B'Tselem and Gush Shalom have launched their own boycott
Israeli goods campaigns.
Among Muslims, every leading Ulema from
every school of thought is united in this and has given clear fatwas in
support of the boycott. A few examples from different schools of thought can
be found by the following link:
See Fatwas given by different Scholars
4. Are you sure
these companies support Israel?
Many people wanting to boycott Israeli
products and companies supporting the zionist entity have been frustrated with
the lack of accurate information as to which companies to boycott.
To this end we have carried out extensive
research to identify the guilty companies. All our findings are backed with
references so that you can independently check the facts and understand
exactly how each company is contributing its support to Israel.
On our website we have dedicated a whole
page per company. Each page is divided into three sections -
(1) the company's product list,
(2) research findings and
(3) reference/additional info section.
You can see the evidence against a
company given in the research findings section and next to each piece of
evidence is a reference number which you can look up in the reference section
to find out the source for the evidence - most items are sourced back to
Israel's own newspapers and journals.
5. Surely
wherever we spend our money, even our taxes support Israel, so why pick on these
companies?
Whilst it is true that the cancerous
zionist entity has got its tentacles hooked into numerous markets and
economies - sucking each one to nourish itself, but this is no excuse for us
not to do anything. The companies on the list are chosen for being the major
supporters of Israel - those that Israel itself has honoured and bestowed
awards upon in recognition of being its key supporters in the world. If we can
successfully campaign against these then the support of the others to these
companies will, inshallah, evaporate.
6. These
companies operate in Muslim countries providing Muslims with Jobs - isn't
boycotting them going to harm ourselves?
It is true that most of the companies on
the list have operations in Muslim countries and employ Muslims who would
loose their jobs if the companies collapsed or pulled out. But we have to look
at this as a opportunity, not a loss.
Take the example of Coca-Cola in the
middle east, the boycott has hit them so hard that their sales are down 60%.
This has created an opportunity for a Muslim alternative, ZamZam Cola of Iran,
which is owned by the religious charity the Foundation of the Dispossessed, to
take Coca-Colas share of the market. ZamZam Cola is struggling to keep up with
demand - it exceeded all expectations by selling four million cans in its
first week. It is now planning to expand by build factories in the gulf
states, helping provide local employment. And for the first time even European
countries like Denmark, are importing ZamZam Cola.
Similar success stories can be told of
Sainsburys closure in Egypt in April 2001, which resulted in a blossoming of
local stores which would not have otherwise survived in an unfair market
monopolized by a foreign giant.
Also lets not forget that the reason why
the multinationals have set up in Muslim countries is not out of benevolence
for us, but rather exploitation. Take the example of Delta Galil - the Israeli
textile giant whose cloths are sold under the labels GAP, Banana Republic,
Calvin Klein, BOSS, M&S and DKNY among others. The Israeli company has
factories in Jordan and Egypt in addition to Palestine. Their treatment of
workers is such that Sweatshop Watch has denounced Delta-Galils exploitation
of Arab labour, calling it a "Sweatshop Czar". Is it really a loss to us to
see such companies go?
7. Does the
boycott work?
Oh yes! For example, one of the companies
hardest hit by the boycott is McDonalds.
McDonalds is a "major corporate partner"
of the Jewish United Fund. In its own words, the Jewish United Fund "works to
maintain American military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel;
monitors and, when necessary, responds to media coverage of Israel." Also,
McDonalds chairman and CEO Jack M. Greenberg is a honorary director of the
American-Israel Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
McDonalds has 80 restaurants in israel,
providing employment to 3000 israelis.
McDonalds has just announced it is
closing down its operation in the middle east due to loss of revenue as a
direct result of the boycott (Oct 2002), and is replacing Greenberg as its
chairman and CEO (Dec 2002). Since the launch of the boycott campaign, two of
Jordan's six McDonald's franchises have closed due to lack of business. In
Egypt, McDonald's decided to change its brand name to Manfoods this past
March, in an attempt to dodge the boycott. It had no effect and Egyptian
police forces were ordered to guard the entrances to McDonald's restaurants,
after stone throwing incidents took place. A total of 175 restaurants will be
closed at a loss of $350 million.
In the face of giants like McDonalds
crumbling under the pressure of the boycott, smaller companies are weary of
supporting Israel and are steering clear in fear of being boycotted.
Amidst calls for a boycott of Amazon.com,
the internet bookstore Amazon.com terminated its association with the
Jerusalem Post (Nov 2002). It was revealed that the Jerusalem Post was
donating its slice of the profits derived from the amazon.com partnership to
Israeli soldiers returning home after committing massacres and other abuses of
human rights on the occupied territories.
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Their advert, which appeared on most
of their pages, read "Buy Amazon.com &
Support Israel".
Inundated with
complaints, amazon.com severed its ties to the Jerusalem Post,
demanding they remove all the adverts
and vowed not to hand over any more
profits.
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Other companies, disgusted by Israel's
treatment of the Palestinians have themselves actively joined the boycott.
In May 2002 a US auto part export company
refused to do business with Israel.
In a reply to a purchase order from
Israel, John Harris, representing Texas Automotive Export wrote:
"We must inform you that Texas Export
will not do business with Israeli citizens at this time. We urge you to rein
in your military and stop your oppression of the Palestinian people," the
letter said. "Your country has lost the respect of the civilised world," it
concluded.
The success of the boycott has so worried
the US government and Israel, both afraid that companies will abandon Israel,
that just last week the US threatened to fine US companies that take part in
the boycott. The Department of Commerce has already issued more than $26m in
fines and turned down export licences to those companies found supporting the
boycott - so much for democracy and a right to choose who to do business with!
8. Can the
boycott really effect the Israeli economy?
Israel's economy is on the verge of total
collapse with no sign of recovery despite cash injections from uncle Sam. Just
last month (Oct 2002) Sharon begged Washington for $10 billion in emergency
aid. Inflation is sky rocketing - even the official figure is over 4 times the
government target. VAT has just been raised as have fuel bills and all basic
living costs like food and rents. Unemployment is soaring and salary cuts are
the order of the day.
This has resulted in a series of
crippling general strikes - the last one bringing the country to a standstill
- flight in and out of Israel had to be suspended, radio and television
broadcasts stopped and health workers only dealt with emergencies. The streets
are piling up with uncollected garbage.
Foreign investment, a life-line for the
zionist state, has also dried up. Figures reveal that investors have lost $5
billion of the $6.5 billion invested in Israel between 1999-2001. No one is
prepared to invest any more.
The Israeli government is so short of
money that its cost cutting includes shutting down several embassies and
consulates around the world!
At this critical time, the importance of
the global boycott of Israel and of the collaborating companies that give it
its life-line cannot be overemphasised. Israel is counting every penny - every
penny matters - ensure yours don't go to Israel!
9. Is there a
printable list of the companies and brands to boycott?
Yes there is a leaflet designed for
printing available for download on the following page:
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-leaflet.html
Also there is an e-card with the logos of
the companies to boycott which you can send to all your friends. Its available
at the Islamic Card Centre:
http://www.inminds.co.uk/cardcentre.html
10. What else can
I do to help?
1. Tell Others
Its essential that others know about the
boycott and specifically which companies to boycott. Make a point of printing
a 100 copies of the leaflet mentioned above[8] and give them out in your
community - at Jummah prayers or other gatherings. Talk to people about the
boycott, with non-Muslims draw the parallels between this boycott and the one
against apartheid in South Africa.
We are grateful to the many individuals
and groups around the world who have already helped in spreading the boycott.
A few examples come to mind:
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A Muslim group in Bosnia carried out a
huge poster and leaflet campaign, with activists distributing 40,000 leaflets
in Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and parts of Yugoslavia. Their success has
drawn the attention of the zionist Simon Wiesenthal Centre [April 2002].
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Just recently [December 2002] a similar
leaflet campaign advertising our website and the boycott has been carried out
in Australia resulting in newspapers articles and tv and radio coverage - we
have been labelled as "preaching anti-globalisation" by one paper!
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In Hong Kong a boycott advert with our
website has been placed in one of the Chinese newspapers. A reader sent us a
copy.
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Crescent International have been placing,
without cost to us, boycott adverts with our web address in most issues of
their paper. They even designed the advert themselves - we only found out when
we received our copy of the paper.
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A few Muslims in Birmingham got together
and paid for the printing of 10,000 colour boycott leaflets (which they
approached us to design). The leaflets were distributed through out the UK.
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One school has seen the importance of the
role of children in keeping a family away from boycotted products, and has
taken the initiative of giving each of its 500 pupils a copy of our boycott
leaflet.
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Many Muslim and non-Muslim websites now
carry our banner and boycott news ticker.
2. Write
Letters
For a boycott to be effective, it must be
followed up with a letter writing campaign to inform the companies that we are
boycotting their products until they stop collaborating with Israel.
3. Picket
More and more individuals are beginning
to take direct action against companies that support Israel. One form of direct
action is to picket the guilty companies.
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Picketing is a form of public protest
and aims to draw attention to the
realities of Palestinian suffering by
exposing those that help to sustain it.
It embarrasses those shoppers that know
they shouldn't be shopping there,
informs those shoppers that are
not aware of the moral objections as well
as irritating supporters of Israel
generally.
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The companies themselves become aware of
the protests and news of pickets goes all the way to the top.
4. Other
boycotts
The boycott of Israel is much more than
just an economic boycott. Support the sports and cultural boycotts.
Sports Boycott in action -
activists liberate the pitch!
At a recent Scotland Vs Israel football match it was revealed
that 21 of the 22 man israeli football squad were serving soldiers,
no doubt war criminals returning from Jenin.
Back to Boycott Israel
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