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Boycotts Brew as Baghdad Burns
07 April 2003
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 APRIL 2003
press release from Peace-Action
http://peace-action.inbyron.com/
Boycotts Brew as Baghdad Burns
In response to a war waged in opposition to worldwide public opinion,
activists and regular citizens from Toledo to Tokyo are taking up the
boycott in hopes of deterring the USA from continuing its attacks on
Iraq.
Activist groups have organized some of the boycott efforts; others are
direct expressions of public opinion.
Boycotts getting organized: many of the major boycott campaigns have
banded together under the umbrella group the Global Boycott for Peace,
or GBP.
Among the members of the GBP, boycott efforts have included:
• The International group for Direct Economic Action against war
(IDEA) continues its flexible boycott strategy, offering boycotters
options for both general and targeted boycotts, listing the top 2, 10,
and 20 boycott targets
• San Francisco-based BoycottUS rallied local support as protests
continued in the City by the Bay
• 13 members of the European Parliament signed on for a boycott of US
corporations sponsored by the boycott organization For Mother Earth
• New Zealanders launched Stop USA, a group of “mad Kiwi consumers”
dedicated to promoting a U.S. boycott in the South Pacific
• In Japan, Peace Choice Campaign has begun a grassroots campaign to
boycott U.S. goods
• Halving her credit cards in protest, American Liz Snyder launched
Stop Spending, which includes a personal “spending blog” about
participating in the boycotts
• Also in the USA, the cyber campaign known as We Won't Shop Until
Attack Talk Stops has Americans pledging to reduce their consumer
spending by a dollar amount, currently pledges total $166,250
• In Australia, Peace Action offers “the B-lists” offering consumers
comprehensive lists of corporations who both support and oppose the war
against Iraq
• In the USA, Be the Cause has also continued to target specific
brands (such as Kraft and Philip Morris) for a consumer boycott
• In New Zealand, Spend for Peace continues its boycott of US
products, encouraging boycotters to write letters to companied,
political leaders, and US ambassadors
• German cyber-campaign Consumers Against War advocates a boycott of a
couple of dozen American brands
Collectively, Global Boycott for Peace, along with For Mother Earth, is
sponsoring its first day of direct boycott actions on April 15th 2003.
Protesters around the globe will voice their plans to boycott at local
shopping districts, gas stations, and strip malls across the globe.
Other boycotts include:
• Influential Vancouver-based Adbusters Magazine continues to promote
its "Boycott Brand America" campaign, where 37715 individuals have
pledged to boycott major American brands"until the empire learns to
listen"
• Protesters in Tokyo urged a boycott of US-made products, and
displayed a list of popular US brands to be spurned, including, Nike,
Coke, and McDonalds
• In Qatar, locals have used SMS, text messages sent over mobile
phones, to advocate a boycott of American and British products
• Shopkeepers in Pakistan have vowed to boycott both British and
American goods.
• The Brasil Worker’s Party has called for a Country-wide ban of
American goods, focusing predominantly on Exxon-Mobil gasoline
• Waiters in restaurants across Germany are telling customers that
Coke is off the menu because of the U.S.-led war against Iraq
• One German bicycle manufacturer, Riese and Mueller Gmbh, cancelled
$300,000 worth of deals with US suppliers
• In Mexico, the Autonomous University of Queretaro (UAQ) called on
students not to consume products that originate in the United Status
for two months, in rejection of the Unites States-led war in Iraq
According to Pattrice Jones of IDEA, the boycott represents a form of
nonviolent direct action. In contrast to symbolic demonstrations of
opinion, boycotts have a direct and immediate impact on their targets.
The idea behind the Global Boycott for Peace movement is that the Bush
regime has listened to neither public opinion nor the United Nations,
but is known to listen to US corporations. If the corporations begin to
suffer, they will make their discomfort known to Bush, who will be
compelled to alter his behavior accordingly.
The growing international boycott movement is a grassroots phenomenon,
with boycott websites and calls to action springing up spontaneously in
diverse locations. Boycott strategies are also diverse, ranging from
refusal to purchase any US or UK goods to ostracism of only those
corporations known to support or likely to profit from the war.
However, the recent formation of the Global Boycott for Peace
foreshadows the formation of a large and sustained boycott emerging as
the war in Iraq drags on.
American Liz Snyder of Stop Spending states, “I refuse to ignorantly
put my money into the pockets of those whose actions I oppose. These
companies made large contributions to the Bush administration, and they
lobby this administration to make sure the government meets their
needs. Let’s make sure that what these companies need is an end to war
against Iraq.”
Even if that doesn't work, say some boycotters, they would still shun
US goods and services in order to ensure that their own money doesn't
help to pay for a war they consider to be illegal and immoral. When
Tanzanian PresidentJulius Nyerere took up the call to boycott goods
coming from apartheid South Africa, he wrote: “Can we honestly condemn
a system and at the same time employ it to produce goods which we buy,
and then enjoy with a clear conscience?" Boycotters of the Global
Boycott for Peace and across the world today are embracing the same
philosophy, refusing to purchase the goods of a country whose actions,
in good conscience, they cannot support.
Online sources of further information
International group for Direct Economic Action against war (IDEA)
http://www.boycottwar.net
Adbusters
http://www.adbusters.org
Be the Cause
http://www.bethecause.org
BoycottUS
http://www.boycottUS.net
Citoyens-Consommateurs Scandalises par la Politique Internationale des
Etats-Unis
http://users.skynet.be/plusdepetroleus/tracts.htm
Consumers Against War
http://www.consumers-against-war.de
For Mother Earth
http://www.motherearth.org/USboycott/
Peace Action
http://peace-action.inbyron.com
Peace Choice Campaign
http://www.peace-choice.net/
Spend for Peace
http://www.spendforpeace.co.nz
Stop Spending: Because War Doesn’t Grow on Trees
http://www.stopspending.org
Stop USA
http://www.stopUSA.org
We Won't Shop Until Attack Talk Stops
http://www.stopshopping.org/index.htm
Send Us Your Comments
Contact Details
Walk Against the War Coalition
info@nswpeace.org
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