Anti-Israeli
Boycott Halves
Demand for US Goods in UAE
Agence France-Presse
14 April 2002
DUBAI -- The demand for US goods has dropped 50 percent in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) since the late-September outbreak of
violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories in response to
calls for a boycott, a newspaper has reported.
Al Ittihad said the decline has been seen most notably in clothing,
perfumes and detergents, with German, French and Italian suppliers
picking up the
slack. The boycott has also affected American fast-food chains,
which have numerous outlets in the Emirates, with demand having
dropped more than 35 percent in the past two months.
Appeals for a boycott of US products were launched in reaction
to a perception that the United States is biased toward Israel in
its conflict with the Palestinians. A blacklist of hundreds of products
has been distributed by the thousands in schools and shopping centers
throughout the UAE, as well as in neighboring Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
- Agence France-Presse
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