Very good article by Naomi Klein (excerpts below):
Several days into Israel's Gaza assault, Richard Ramsey, the managing director of a British telecom company, sent an e-mail to the Israeli tech firm MobileMax. "As a result of the Israeli government action in the last few days we will no longer be in a position to consider doing business with yourself or any other Israeli company."
When contacted by The Nation, Ramsey said his decision wasn't political. "We can't afford to lose any of our clients, so it was purely commercially defensive."
It was this kind of cold business calculation that led many companies to pull out of South Africa two decades ago. And it's precisely the kind of calculation that is our most realistic hope of bringing justice, so long denied, to Palestine.
By the way, it seems the boycott of American goods and services is picking up again in the Arab world (no surprise). There are all these messages about stores like McDonalds and Burger King donating a portion of their revenue to the Apartheid State. I am usually quick to dismiss these as myths. In case I'm wrong, does anybody know of a US (or other) franchise which has publicly announced support for the Apartheid state (financial or otherwise) during this war?
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According to "Boycott Israel," a group on Facebook, the following companies support apartheid Israel. It's a long list--really long.
AOL Time Warner
Time Life magazine, CNN, ICQ
Apax Partners
Jonny Rockets, Sunglass Hut.
Arsenal Football Club
Coca-Cola
Fruitopia, Fanta, Kia Orange, Lilt, Sprite, Sunkist..
Caterpillar
Danone
HP foods, Evian, Volvic, Jacob
Delta Galil
Hema, Barbie, Carrefour, Auchan, Tchibo, Victoria's Secret, GAP, Banana Republic, Structure, J-Crew, JC Penny, Pryca, Lindex, DIM, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Playtex, cK, Hugo Boss, M&S
Disney
Emblaze
Estée Lauder
Aramis, Clinique, DKNY, Prescriptives, Origins, MAC, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Tommy Hilfiger, Jane, Donna Karan, Aveda, Stila, Jo Malone, Bumble & Bumble, Kate Spade
Home Depot
Villager's Hardware, Georgia Lighting, Apex Supply, EXPO Design Centres
IBM
Intel
Johnson & Johnson
Kimberly-Clark
Kleenex, Kotex, Huggies, Andrex
Lewis Trust Group
River Island, Isrotel hotels, Britannia Pacific
The Limited Inc
Express stores, Lerner New York, Structure, New York & Company, Mast Industries, Intimate Brands, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, White Barn Candle Company, Henri Bendel
L'Oreal
Giorgio Armani, Redken 5th Avenue, Lancome Paris, Vichy, Cacharel, La Roche-Posay, Garnier, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren, Carson
Marks & Spencer
M&S, St.Michaels
McDonald's
Motorola
Nestle
Nescafé, Perrier, Vittel, Pure Life, Carnation, Libby's, Milkmaid, Nesquik, Maggi, Buitoni, Cross & Blackwell, KitKat, Milkybar, Quality Street, Smarties, After Eight, Aero, Polo, Lion, Felix cat food, L'Oréal
News Corporation
TV: Fox, Sky, Star, Phoenix, Granada, CNBC. UK newspapers: Standard Newspaper, News of the World, The Sun, The Times. Australian Newspapers: The Telegraph , Gold Coast Bulletin, Herald Sun, Independent, Sunday Mail. US newspapers: New York Post. Publishers: Harper Collins Ragan, Zondervan, National Geographical. Nursery World, Rawkus, NDS, Mushroom Records, ChinaByte.com, Festival Records
Nokia
Revlon
New World Entertainment, Forbes
Sara Lee
Hanes, Playtex, Champion, Leggs, Douwe Egberts, Bryan, DIM, Ambi Pur, Bali, Superior Coffee, Just My Size, Kiwi, Maison Cafe, Nur die, Pilao, Lovable, Outer Banks, Wonderbra, Sanex, Pickwick, Gossard, Body Mist, Brylcreem, Aqua Velva, Radox
Siemens
Selfridges
Starbucks
Seattle Coffee, Pasqua, Hear Music, Tazo
Timberland
Told you it was long.
That list has been there since the second intifada days. Lesson learnt from that experience is that a consumer boycott should be directed to a limited number of products which currently have direct links to the Israeli army/illegal settlements. The Palestinians BDS campaign webiste has some examples (www.bds-palestine.net).
Also, we should not limit the BDS movement to consumer boycott activities.
Boycott campaign against Israeli fruits working:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3656454,00.html
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