Posted on 04/11/2002 5:07:24 AM PDT by knighthawk
Tunisians on Wednesday stepped up their protests against Washington's Middle East policies, calling for a boycott of US-made goods and blacklisting media groups accused of smearing the Palestinians.
Union leaders, lawyers and members of civil society stated their call for a boycott of around 60 US-made products was aimed at "expressing our support for the Palestinian people, victims of genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli army," the Tunisian press reported, cited by AFP.
In addition, the boycott is to include products made by companies that support Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government.
"Certain Western media and newspapers" accused of "flagrantly taking sides with Israel by deforming reality and leading a smear campaign against the Palestinian cause" are included on the protesters' blacklist, The Quotidien de Tunis newspaper reported.
Lists of the products to be embargoed were posted in trade union offices, lawyers' chambers and faculty lounges at schools, and will also be posted in businesses, shopping centers and cafes, the paper detailed.
Blacklisted products include Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Levi's jeans, Calvin Klein clothes and cosmetics, according to several residents of the capital who had seen the lists.
In a second stage of the campaign, primary and secondary school teachers are due to explain to their students "the close correlation that exists between the products on the list and the Zionist lobby," the paper said.
In another protest move, the Association for Tunisian-American Friendship delivered a letter to the US embassy in Tunis, condemning Washington's policies in the "conflict concerning the Palestinian state," an AFP correspondent in Tunis said Wednesday.
The letter, which the Agency obtained a copy of, said Washington's Middle East policy "is characterized by indifference and injustice which risk causing serious damage to relations between the United States and countries in the region.
"Since its independence more than two centuries ago, the United States has always supported the oppressed and protected human rights, regardless of religion or creed," the letter said.
"Arabs cannot understand the paradoxical attitude the United States adopts towards the occupation of Palestine," the letter stated.
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