Anti-war boycott message spreads
By Richard Black
BBC World Service
People who disapprove of the US-led invasion of Iraq are finding a new way to protest - a consumer boycott.
Rather than taking to the streets in their masses they are staying away from products and companies which they believe helped bring the Bush administration to power, and so share responsibility for the invasion.
A myriad of campaigning groups are using the internet to spread the boycott message.
Patricia McKenna is one of 10 members of the European Parliament who've declared their support for a boycott.
"People feel that they've gone out into the streets, they've protested, they've voiced their opposition, yet the war has gone ahead," she said.
"Governments are ignoring their own people so the only thing they have left at this stage is to boycott companies that clearly are going to make a profit from this war."
New targets
But which companies?
In recent years a number of groups based in the Middle East have urged boycotts of what you might call the iconic corporations of contemporary America - MacDonald's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi.
In some Arab countries sales have apparently fallen dramatically.
"If people are going to boycott certain companies, they need to... write to the companies and say why they're going to boycott"
But now the boycotters have new targets.
Pol D'Huyvetter, spokesperson for Belgian campaigning group For Mother Earth, said his organisation is targeting firms which sponsored the election campaign of President Bush.
On the websites of For Mother Earth and many other associated organisations you find listed the corporations whose money, they say, brought George W Bush to power.
In the last week there have been calls for boycotts in countries as diverse as Argentina, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Russia, and Thailand - mainly from campaigning groups, but some from religious leaders.
In Germany shops took American products off the shelves; in Nigeria clerics called on traders to abandon the dollar in favour of the Euro.
Getting the message across?
So far the corporations themselves don't seem to be too concerned.
'For Mother Earth' blocked Esso and Texaco garages in Brussels
According to pro-boycott websites, the biggest Republican donor is the bank MBNA, who contributed $3m to put George W Bush in the White House.
They declined to comment on the boycott movement.
Microsoft, another multi-million dollar donor, said they routinely support groups and individuals who share their positions on the major public policy issues that affect them; and that they contribute to both US political parties.
The Office of the Trade Representative in Washington, responsible for developing US trade abroad, offered no comment.
Patricia McKenna suspects they may not be aware of the boycott movement because people don't tell them when they stop buying.
"If people are going to boycott certain companies, they need to get that message across and write to the companies and say why they're going to boycott," she said.
This might not be as simple as it sounds.
For many in the boycott movement Iraq isn't the only issue - just the latest in a series of events which in their eyes put the Bush administration and its financial backers outside the acceptable world order.
"We will be able to talk about an end to the boycott when the US will show more respect for international law"
Pol D'Huyvetter, 'For Mother Earth'
Pol D'Huyvetter said issues like the US attitude to the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court are also strengthening the boycott.
Organisations like For Mother Earth model the current campaign on the boycott of Shell petrol stations in 1995, in protest at the company's plans to dump the Brent Spar oil platform on the sea bed.
It created economic and image problems for Shell.
Political leaders in Europe took up the issue and in the end the company changed its plans.
Campaigners also cite the widespread boycott of South Africa which helped bring the apartheid era to a close.
Going it alone
So far none of Europe's political elite publicly supports the current economic boycott; in fact the French government is keen to re-build damaged relations with the United States, according to its spokesman Jean-Francois Cope.
There have been anti-war protests across the globe
"For us stirring up controversy is definitely not the order of the day and we consider that there is no anti-Americanism of any nature in our approach, and I cannot imagine that there could be economic consequences," he said.
Campaigners like Pol D'Huyvetter however imagine just the opposite.
They hope there will be economic consequences for companies which fund the Bush administration.
They would like the support of their governments - but if it does not come they will boycott anyway.
They are far from keen on Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq but they are far less keen on the new world order of George W Bush.
"One thing which seems clear is that the boycott will not end with the end of the conflict in Iraq," Pol D'Huyvetter said.
"Because today, if our money is used to finance bombs which fall on Baghdad, maybe next week it's the turn of a country like Iran or citizens in North Korea. |
