International
day for Boycotting US Products
By Khaled Hanafi,
IslamOnLine (IOL)
July 22, 2002
Environment and anti-globalization organizations worldwide called
on all citizens suffering from U.S. injustice to give up drinking
American soft drinks, especially Coca-Cola, for the day of Monday,
July 22, 2002.
Head of the Egyptian Society for boycotting Zionist and American
products, Ahmed Bahaa Edeen Shaaban told IslamOnline Sunday, July
14, " We call upon Egyptian and Arab citizens to support
our drive, especially as far as Coca-Cola is concerned. It is a
symbol of U.S. hegemony that must be resisted".
Shaaban added that the soft drink is not on top of the unified
boycott list, agreed by the General Egyptian Committee and Labor
Unions. "This is the first time we try to make one unified
list of boycotted products. We are trying to apply it throughout
the Egyptian land," he said.
The unified list of boycotted products, a copy of which has been
received by IslamOnline, includes goods considered symbols of U.S.
domination. Among them are MacDonald's, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta,
Arial (Washing powder), Marlboro, Pampers (baby diapers), Heinz
products',etc.
In his justification of a unified list of boycotted goods, Shaaban
said that many lists appeared, causing confusion among the consumers
because some lists included national products. " So, there
had to be accurate measures to brand a certain product liable to
boycott," he added.
"The Egyptian Committee prepared the unified list through specialized
economic experts, who applied strict rules to be followed. First
rule applied is boycotting all Israeli companies and products, as
well as affiliates thereof. Second rule is selecting a sample of
U.S. and Western products, as a message to the U.S. and other pro-Israel
states to the effect that bias to Israel will hurt the interests
of such states.
"Third rule is to guarantee an alternative to the boycotted
product. Then making sure that boycotting any product will have
no negative impacts on the Egyptian economy. Finally, only companies
and goods meeting the boycott measures are to be included in the
unified list," added Shaaban.
The Egyptian Committee believes boycotting western products will
also encourage Egyptian-made products and give a boost to the national
industry.
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