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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Comment Focus Special Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Disney takes the Mickey
By Rasha SaadArab information ministers held an extraordinary meeting yesterday at Arab League headquarters in Cairo to endorse a joint stance against US entertainment giant, Walt Disney. Another meeting is scheduled on Friday for Arab foreign ministers currently taking part in the UN General Assembly's annual session in New York. The Arab ministers are expected to demand an Arab and Islamic boycott of Disney Corporation products after the latter approved an Israeli exhibition portraying Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Disney entertainment complexes are visited by more than 200,000 Arabs annually and the company's trade with the region amounts to more than $300 million.
Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid warned in statements from New York on Monday that Disney Corp. might lose its trade in the Arab world if it maintained a position "that I perceive as dangerous to the Arabs". He accused the company of "deceiving" the Arab League by agreeing to change the title of the Israeli exhibition without altering the content which backs Israel's claims over the city. A film to be played at the Israeli exhibit on the history of Jerusalem ignores the Christian and Islamic presence in the city.
The exhibition is set to open on 1 October at the Epcot Centre, Florida, as part of the theme park's 15-month millennium celebration that is to feature displays from more than 35 nations including Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Israel's Foreign Ministry contributed $1.8 million to the project.
After a complaint from the United Arab Emirates Information Ministry, the Israeli exhibit was on the agenda of the regular meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo last week. Abdel-Meguid told reporters at a news conference at the end of the meeting that he had received assurances from the company that the exhibition would not back Israeli claims. However, after an Arab delegation visited the site in Florida, they informed the League that the content of the exhibition emphasised Israeli claims to the city.
The future of East or Arab Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in the Palestinian-Israeli final status talks which opened on 13 September. East Jerusalem was part of Arab territories occupied by Israel after the 1967 war. Palestinians, backed by Arab countries, insist on Israel's withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied in 1967 and consider East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. Israel, however, unilaterally annexed the city and declared Jerusalem as its "eternal and indivisible" capital. This move has not been recognised by the international community and nearly all world countries have refused to move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The change of the title of the Israeli exhibition was due to the efforts of Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal who is a major shareholder in Paris-based Euro Disney. However, according to Abdel-Meguid, the rift between the Arabs and Disney will come to an end only after "the removal of every trace and sign of Jerusalem in the Israeli exhibition".
Nassif Hitti, assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, explained to Al-Ahram Weekly that there was a major shift in the attitude of Disney before and after the League's meeting. He said that before the meeting opened on 12 September, Disney executives sent a letter to Abdel-Meguid stating that the company intended no harm to the interests of the Arabs and that all it sought was to show cultural diversity, not politics. According to Hitti the company also welcomed the idea that an Arab delegation visit the exhibit to investigate the issue. "The attitude of the company completely changed after the meeting. The company dealt passively with the Arab delegation who were not able to receive the necessary guarantees to their demands."
Hitti attributed this change of heart on the part of Disney to their desire for the meeting to pass calmly and to avoid an Arab boycott. He also pointed to pressure from Israel and the Jewish lobby in the US.
On Friday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak attacked Arab pressure on Disney. "Barak views seriously the attempt to impose a boycott on the Jerusalem exhibit at Disney," said a statement from the prime minister's office. "Attempts to damage the status of Israel and Jerusalem as its united capital have failed in the past and will fail in the future."
The Arab call for a boycott, however, was not welcomed by Prince Bin Talal who argued that the concessions made by Disney over the exhibit are enough and that no further action is needed.
Nonetheless, in a telephone interview from his office in Washington, Khaled Turaani, executive director of the US-based American Muslims for Jerusalem, told the Weekly: "The changes that were made by Disney are only in form and not in content. The content of the exhibit continues to portray Jerusalem as the capital of Israel... Israel's main goal is to seize Jerusalem and that's why it seeks to promote the notion of Jerusalem as its unified capital before 15 million visitors."
Turaani added that his organisation believes that an Arab boycott of Disney is the only solution. He expressed doubts over the intentions of the company which, according to him, has been reluctant to provide information about the Israeli exhibit. "This makes us doubt the seriousness of the company and so we believe that imposing an Arab embargo is the only solution."
Meanwhile, Israeli statements on the issue verified Arab fears. Proclaiming Israel's victory over the Arabs, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aviv Shir-On said in a statement, "The Israeli exhibit... focuses on the history of Jerusalem since the time of Abraham... its centrality in the life of the Jewish people... until it was declared by Ben Gurion as the capital of the state of Israel."
According to Hitti, "No matter what the outcome of this battle is, the Arabs had to make their voice heard and prove their point so that this incident will not be repeated by other companies."
