Since the war broke out a little less than two weeks ago in Iraq, a wave of resentment has been sweeping through Saudi society. Like many others in the international community, we Saudis see that this war is unjust and lacks legitimacy. Furthermore, we see an aggression that could possibly go beyond the borders of Iraq.
Many Saudis I have talked to say boldly that Saudi Arabia could be a future target for the US. Others speculate that it was only a matter of time before Arab countries would be targeted, one after another.
In the midst of all this, anti-American sentiment is at an all-time high in Saudi Arabia. Mobile text messages that call for boycotting American goods are now being sent by many Saudis. One text message read: “America is going to lose $8.6 billion if we do not buy their products for a week! Please do not wait and pass this around to everyone you know.”
Though there is an unofficial call to boycott American goods by Saudis, the question I would like to raise is: How effective will a boycott be? And will it serve its purpose?
The first boycott that had a large impact on many American franchises here in Saudi Arabia happened last year when the massacres in Jenin, Palestine, took place. Many American fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s, KFC, Hardee’s, and Burger King reported sharp declines in sales because of the boycott. Some of these outlets refused to admit to the media that any change had taken place in their sales and affirmed that everything was going well during that time.
But it was only some weeks after the first boycott started that we saw ads carried in local newspapers by the McDonalds chains and Burger King in Saudi Arabia informing the public that their companies were Saudi-owned and that the ingredients they used from the bread all the way down to the lettuce and tomatoes were bought from Saudi farms.
Their ads certainly raised eyebrows. Why would they go publishing such ads if they had not suffered great losses?
But the momentum of the boycott of American products grew weaker and weaker every day. Only a month or two after the boycott began, large numbers of customers returned.
Was it just another trend? Did the Saudi public’s enthusiasm grow weaker over time? Or is I that the images of the slain Palestinians that were in our heads started to fade away?
Several businessmen and thinkers have spoken out about the first boycott. They said that such a boycott would not have any effect on the American economy; instead, it would harm local Saudi dealers who would be losing money.
I was someone who believed that boycotting American products was a matter of principle. That not a single riyal from my pocket would go to an American fast-food chain or American product. But I realized that what some businessmen have said was correct. Take, for example, Starbucks in Saudi Arabia.
The company’s franchisee in Saudi Arabia is employing lots of Saudis. I personally have spoken to some Saudis who work there, proud to earn a living. Some of them are still students working different shifts. Others there have told me that they want to correct the false image some people had of Saudis being lazy and not willing to take blue-collar jobs.
What would have happened if there was a boycott to Starbucks and the chain ran out of business? What would be the fate of those Saudis working there?
Wouldn’t our boycott of an American product get them kicked out of their jobs and furthermore damage the local franchisee’s business?
I did not think that there were many Saudis out there who shared my ideas until I was talking to the imam of the mosque near my house. Even though he leads Qunoot prayers that call for the welfare and protection of the Iraqi people every night, when I asked him what his ideas were regarding the boycott of American goods he amazed me by saying that he was against it.
When I asked him what his reason was, he said: “Lots of people are boycotting American goods because of their anger of the Bush administration’s policies. But who brought these goods to Saudi Arabia? George Bush?” He said that between the manufacturer and the consumer there is a long chain of intermediaries. Boycotting American goods would do more harm than good as local dealers would be seriously affected, as he put it.
I could not agree more.
Now if I could only persuade the coffee shop owner near my house to return to ordering the chocolate chip cookies he used to sell from the US.
Arab News Opinion 2 April 2003
