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Al-Ahram Weekly Online
25 April - 1 May 2002
Issue No.583
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
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The boycott backlash
The Boycott Israeli Goods (BIG) list is circulating the Arab world with a new-found
force. Yasmine El-Rashidi looks into just how hard it is hitting business
Icons of "little America" are the primary culprits in the Arab-based boycott move
Boycott lists are nothing new. Not in Egypt, and certainly not elsewhere in the world.
The "Boycott Israeli Goods" (BIG) campaign was in the workings two years ago -- at
the start of the Intifada. It made a bang for a few days, and then it whimpered, and
died -- into the vacuum of the e-world and its endless pages of voiceless
propaganda.
It certainly wasn't the first of its kind, for it was a mirror of Great Britain's anti-
Apartheid campaign which called for the boycott of South African products. The only
difference, it appears, was the response.
"Everyone was following it," says Alicia Chesworth, a British citizen teaching English
in Egypt. "And it worked. The whole country stopped buying South African goods."
The key to the British-based boycott action was a vibrant political and civil society,
working together towards an end goal. In Egypt two years ago, the agenda of the
boycott list wasn't undertaken with such zeal, not perhaps out of lack of a similar
consensus within civil society but rather as a result of its overall weakness.
In recent weeks the picture has been different. The portrait of Arab unity, of
solidarity
and brotherhood, has changed, and the position on towards an enemy has shifted its
weight to solidarity for the sake of lives. The nation, and region, as a whole, are
mobilised behind the Palestinian people in a way never quite witnessed before.
At an end of year show at RAJAC language school on the Ismailia road, the theme is
Arab solidarity. The six, seven, eight and nine-year-olds are dressed in black. Each
and every one of them is draped in Palestinian kuffiyas.
"This is the date the nation was born," they sing -- or scream, really -- into their
mikes. "The year is not important. Let us stand in a circle, on one ground, and hold
our hands in brotherhood and peace."
The children may not be aware of what boycott, or economy, or pressure, may mean,
but they are well aware of the meaning of peace, and killing, and injustice.
"Children have become much more politicised," says Yehia Omar, owner of the
Salsabeel Supermarket branch in Medinat Nasr's seventh district. "My daughter is
ten. She knows all about America and Israel and the meaning of them. They're
teaching them a lot at school, and the television is also doing a very good job."
Of raising awareness, that is.
"I'm very happy with Egyptian television," he continues. "It's promoting the
Palestinian
cause. And it's bringing the people together."
Salsabeel -- named after one of the pools of heaven -- has begun to feel the slight
ripple of the solidarity in its sales.
"There's less demand for Marlboro," Omar tells Al-Ahram Weekly. "And some people
have switched from Pepsi to Schweppes, for example. As Egyptians we feel a sense
of duty towards our Palestinian brothers, and so we are shifting our habits to help
them."
The shifting of habits, in the public's eyes, means boycotting anything American, or
any firm with overt links to Israel.
"Some customers ask if something is American," he explains. "If I say yes, they say
they want the Egyptian alternative."
The alternatives are easy to come across; alongside the boycott list, is a boycott
alternatives list, too.
"Use Saha instead of Vittel, use Anchor instead of Klim," one list reads. "Stop eating
Kitkat, and try Mars (German) instead. Stop using Nescaf�, and drink Jacobs
instead. Boycott Polo and GAP and Levi's," it calls.
Kitkats and Smarties and Wrigley's gum may be do-able, but when it comes to
Nescaf�, many draw the line.
"I can't stop drinking Nescaf�," says Dina Hossam, of Citibank's customer service
department. "I believe in the Palestinian cause, I will donate blood, and money. I
participated in the demonstrations at Cairo University. But stop Nescaf�? I won't. And
I don't see what it will accomplish."
To some it is the market shock waves it will send through the nations of origin -- the
United States and Israel -- that is mobilising them to support BIG. To others,
however, the picture looks slightly different.
"It affects the Egyptians too," complains one of McDonald's' delivery crew. "Our
orders are much less than before. My real money comes from tips. What fault is it of
mine?"
The immediate affect of the boycott list, it is evident, is that which it has on the
locals.
"It backlashes," says Sameh Hemdan, a graduate student of economics at Cairo
University. "If the entire region boycotts every single product on the list, yes, in
the
long-run the producers would feel it. Would it affect their economies? Probably not
significantly. We have to be realistic -- what consumption percentage of American
and Israeli goods is Middle East-based?" he asks.
The boycott list, in essence, is a statement. One, however, which many feel is not
quite loud enough.
"We haven't really seen a difference in sales," says Wael Abdel- Razek, of METRO
supermarkets' sales team. "I'd be lying if I said the Egyptians weren't buying
American goods for the Palestinian cause. Yes, they have displayed solidarity and
brotherhood, but I think at the boycott list they draw the line."
His perspective may ring true in that Levi's, Nescaf�, Coca-Cola, and Palmolive are
local household names. And as the summer heat begins to hit homes harder, and
the insects crawl out of their winter hideouts, Raid and Off! become necessary
household items. And for the mothers, the question is how to replace Cerelac, or the
"no tears" Johnson&Johnson baby shampoo. Or how, of course, to explain to a
five or six year-old that the peculiar-looking "Pokemon" creature is off play-bounds
too.
The boycott list may be a statement, but the riots, blood donations, and the collection
of food and clothes and toys are indisputably a statement that is much more loudly
heard.
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