|
Your coffee may be from
Columbia, but is it supporting
the Middle East
conflict?
by Stephanie Garretson. July 25,
2002.
In the happy world of perfect
lattés and mocha frappacinos, a world of
frustrated
citizens sends out a plea to stop drinking or buying
coffee from
Starbucks. If you haven‚t heard of
Starbucks, they are a Pacific Northwest
company that
is literally the McDonalds of coffee. With more than
3000
stores nationwide and a plethora of stores all
over the world, the company
boosts booming sales and
high economic growth each year. The problem stems
from several different problems world wide, and most
of the boycotts are
created because the grassroots
organization calling for the boycott believes
the
people who drink Starbucks coffee are typically very
world conscious
people. Thus far the boycotts have
been from asking for milk that did not
contain
bovine growth hormone, or stopping Starbucks (a symbol
of corporate
America) from opening up in a San Diego
neighborhood. That was until April
2000. When
founder Howard Schultz stood out as a citizen, but drew
in a
crowd because of who he is and what he does,
called for Israel support from
American and Jewish
American citizens.
Schultz made an empowering
plea to 1200 Seattle citizens at the largest
Jewish
temple in the Northwest, Temple De Hirsh Sinai „The rise
of
anti-Semitism is at an all-time high since the
1930s. If you leave this
synagogue tonight and go
back to your home and ignore this, then shame on
us.
Take a stand please.‰ Schultz with the support of other
Jewish American
organizations have raised over $287
million dollars in 189 communities. The
money is
going to support Israeli citizens from terrorists
attacks.
Since Schulz‚ statement, several
Arab-American communities have called for a
boycott
against Starbucks and the company came under great
criticism in the
last few months. So much so, that
Schulz has since released a statement
claiming he
did not mean to be anti- Palestinian; "I deeply regret
that my
speech in Seattle was misinterpreted to be
anti-Palestinian. My position has
always been
pro-peace and for the two nations to co- exist
peacefully. I am
deeply saddened by the current
events in the Middle East."
One can only question
how sad Howard Schultz is, as he continues to support
Israel by opening Starbucks stores in the suffering
land. He has done little
to show peace and shows no
noticeable signs of ever standing up for peace in
the Middle East.
The problem is much larger
than the issue with Starbucks and Howard Schultz
The
problem lies within American commerce, American
involvement and bias and
American corporations
blatantly and blindly supporting Israeli armies and
defenses. In doing this, some American corporations
who franchise their
name, such as McDonalds, Burger
King and even Starbucks (though a Starbucks
franchise is not the norm) are being brutally
boycotted by their own
citizens. Arab corporations
or individuals who own and operate these
companies
overseas are losing customers left and right because of
the
political and economical support United States
is offering to Israel. Media
companies are avoiding
tackling the tough stories and tend to favor Israel
in reporting the gruesome stories of death,
injustice and inhumane war
activities.
As you
come across your local Starbucks sandwiched near your
favorite
grocery store or in your office building,
ask yourself how much of my $3.25
mocha is going
towards the death of an innocent child, woman or man.
You are
making the choice with your dollar and
whether you know it or not, you are
making a
statement and taking a
stand.
SOURCES:
Associated Press; "Protesters
turn to Starbucks to get attention" AP/ USA TODAY, June
29, 2001
Cox, James; "Arab nations see boycotts
of US products" USA TODAY, June 25, 2002
McMahon,
Patrick; "Terrorism stirs Jews in USA to activism" USA
Today, June 25,
2002 |
