More than 2,000 Muslim restaurants in Malaysia will remove Coca-Cola from their menus as part of a boycott of American products in protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, officials said today to a local newspaper, The Star.
American companies are being targeted because of the U.S. government’s support of Israel, which is carrying out a military offensive on Gaza that is says is aimed at stopping rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled territory.
The nationwide boycott will be launched Friday by several Muslim groups after they seek God’s blessings at Friday prayers, said Ma’mor Osman, secretary-general of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association which is leading the campaign.
In addition to Coca-Cola, he said they have identified some 100 other products ranging from food to beauty and clothing such as Starbucks, Colgate, McDonald’s and Maybelline.
Since the Israeli offensive began, nearly 600 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, have been killed and at least 2,500 people injured, according to U.N. and Palestinian officials. Eleven Israelis have also been killed.
Muslims in Malaysia and worldwide have held demonstrations against the Israeli action but Ma’mor said such protests are futile.
‘A boycott is the best way for us to protest Zionist cruelty against the Palestinian people as consumers can weaken the economy of countries like Israel and its ally, the U.S.,’ he said.
‘We urge everybody who loves peace and is against war to support our campaign. We must send a clear signal to Israel to stop the assaults in Gaza,’ he said.
Some 2,600 restaurants under the Association of Muslim Restaurant Operators will stop selling Coca-Cola from Friday, he added.
The move came after former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a strident critic of Israel, last week urged consumers and governments to boycott American products and the U.S. dollar.
Israel sent troops and tanks into Hamas-controlled Gaza on Saturday after a weeklong aerial bombardment, sparking outrage among Muslims worldwide.
Malaysia’s government, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel, has denounced Israel’s ground offensive as ‘an act of total war’ which cannot be tolerated.
The United States has also been criticized for blocking approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
P/S: I never much favor coca-cola in the first place so I think this boycott can be done for me. Now I just have to change all my cosmetic products to local’s. That’s right, gosh.
ALL IN THE NAME OF PEACE!
Tags: gaza strip attacks, hamas, israel missile raids, israel-palestine wars, malaysia boycott us products, palestine attacks, us products boycott
January 8, 2009 at 1:49 pm |
The Coca-cola that I drink this evening will be the last US product that I buy. Oh yes, let’s boycott them from now.
January 14, 2009 at 2:55 pm |
If you plan to boycott anything from the USA, then I suggest that the first thing you do is to burn your computer and never own a computer, ever. Mind you, every single computer is from the USA. Dell, Apple, Microsoft, etc. But you might argue that you use made-in-Taiwan Acer. Though Acer is made in Taiwan, what processors do they run on? They run on Intel processors which are in fact, from the USA. Even every single operating system is made in America. If you don’t want a Mac or a Windows, there’s Lotus and Linux. But where do they come from? America.
So here’s my advice: Don’t be an idiot and boycott goods from the USA, totally. You should know the reasons why you are boycotting them.
January 14, 2009 at 3:25 pm |
@ern wei
Please refer to the following article. Malaysia: Don’t Blindly Boycott U.S Goods
Boycotting is an individual right, whether he or she want’s to boycott ALL and go vegan to U.S goods then it’s up to them. Nothing is stopping them. And mind you, you’re NOT the RIGHT person to decide whether everybody in this world is an idiot in boycotting U.S goods. Even I. . .
February 7, 2009 at 12:25 pm |
@ern wei
the boycott will choose its battles. One battle at a time. When the first few companies fall then , the rest will reconsider their ethical stance.
and one of the first companies that is expected to fall is frutarom, the israeli flavouring house that has offices in malaysia
http://www.frutarom.com/FrutaromNew/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=84&FID=524