26 April - 2 May 2001
Issue No.531
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 April - 2 May 2001 Issue No.531 |
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'Secure a victory and move on'
The call to boycott Israeli and American companies takes on a new dimension, reports Amira Howeidy
Associated with the beautiful face of British model and actress Elizabeth Hurley, the image of Estée Lauder -- the skin care, make-up and fragrance company -- might soon have rather ugly connotations for Egyptian and Arab public opinion. According to the American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), a US-based lobby group, Estée Lauder's chairman, Ronald Lauder, is also chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations and president of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) -- a quasi-governmental agency whose main function is to legitimise Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Initiated in the US last year, AMJ's call to boycott Estée Lauder products reached Cairo this week. In conjunction with the General Egyptian Committee for the Boycott of Zionist and American products (GECB), the AMJ addressed media representatives at the Press Syndicate last Sunday.
AMJ leaflets distributed to attendees contained a list of products produced by Estée Lauder, including Clinique, DKNY and Tommy Hilfiger fragrances. While a boycott of these products is still in its infancy, the issue has found its way to the agenda of the Arab League. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Said Kamal, Palestine's Arab League representative, said that AMJ provided the league with information on "an important American company which finances Israel, settlement activities, Israeli extremists and the Israeli army." This information, he said assertively, "is the subject of thorough research" by the Arab League.
Although Egypt's consumption of the products in question, when compared to that of oil-rich Gulf countries, is meagre -- making a boycott economically ineffective here -- AMJ executive director Khalid Turanni argues that the focus on Egypt stems from its "leading role when it comes to Jerusalem and Palestine" and its distinction in being the venue of the first spontaneous boycotts against Israel.
Ever since the 1973 war, when Arab countries halted oil exports to the US and Europe, creating havoc in the global oil market and Western economies, the word "boycott" in this region has had a heavily political connotation, although the oil weapon was never used again.
When the second Intifada broke out last September, the concept was revived and proved to be effective in Egypt. As calls to boycott British supermarket chain Sainsbury's (rumour had it that the owner is Jewish) gained momentum and the chain was eventually forced to shut down, lobby groups tasted victory.
"We believe that the shutting of Sainsbury's gave the call to boycott a major boost," said the GECB's Abdel-Aziz El-Husseini. "Contrary to widespread views, we called for its boycott not because it was rumoured that its owner is Jewish -- we are not against Jews -- but because the company donated 14 million pounds sterling to the Jewish Settlements Support Fund. And this was published in the Financial Times."
The boycott list is longer, however. According to El-Husseini, his committee has named dozens of Zionist and American products "which are symbols of American economic globalisation," such as Levi's, McDonalds and Nike. GECB is also active in monitoring Egyptian business ties with Israel and exposing them to the media. "We feel things are changing indeed," El-Husseini says. "We know from press reports, for example, that Coca Cola and several American fast-food chains have suffered a 50 per cent loss in sales. According to the Guardian, the sales of American food products in Egypt dropped by 35 per cent. The sales of Ariel detergent dropped by 50 per cent after the election of Ariel Sharon. This is all indicative of the success of the call to boycott."
But others argue that a boycott only harms the Egyptian economy, forcing thousands out of work at a time when the unemployment rate has reached 30 per cent.
"We cannot hurt the Egyptian economy more than Israel does by destabilising the region and thus the economy," argues Turanni. There are two reasons for the boycott, he explains: to "punish" companies that are "against our interests, dreams and aspirations. So we do all we can to punish them economically." And the second reason? "We will spend our money judiciously," he says.
AMJ made the headlines following its creation in 1999, when it launched campaigns against Burger King and Disney World. The former was about to open an outlet in a Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, but the AMJ forced it to reverse its decision. The campaign against Disney World was triggered when it hosted an Israeli exhibition that depicted Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Turanni is confident that "methodical" and "systematic" campaigns of this sort can, in the end, help the Palestinian cause. But what's next? More is yet to come, he promises. "What we do is work on something, secure a victory, publicise it, and move on to the next one."
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