Starbucks in the Arab world is just like McDonalds in France , a target for protests and boycotts. Despite the denial of Starbucks mother company in the States , the rumors about the donations of its founder to the IDF is still alive making from Starbucks a symbol of Zionism in the Arab countries.
Starbucks chain as you know began to spread in Egypt after years of hesitation due to market status and also political issues , its considerable small number of branches kept away from criticism but not for so long because just from couple of days ago Egypt has witnessed the first Starbucks' protest !!
Egyptian and foreign activists protested in front of Starbucks café near Shooting club. It was bold successful action which unfortunately that was covered as it should in the Egyptian media but of course it does not matter as I am here.
Photos by Sarah Carr and Mostafa Hussein
Of course I wonder what would happen if it were all Egyptians protest !!??
Last year protesters in Beirut led the café to be closed for a day during the Gaza war.
By the way most people do not know that Starbucks café closed all its branches in Israel in 2003 due to operational decisions and this decision resulted in rumors that due to political issues Starbucks took the side of the Arabs !!!
I am sorry dear but this is a really silly action...!!!!I am angry with Switzerland so I look for the nearest Chocloate factory and protest in front of it . Forgive me,but I find it quite childlish.
ReplyDeleteDear Zeinobia, have you ever wondered why there are so many foreign cafes, restaurants, shops in Egypt and no Egyptian cafes etc in the West?
ReplyDelete@Akher Ayam , it is not a silly thing ,it is a form of protest. It happens everywhere in the world. Code Pink always does it from time to time targeting stores selling Israeli settlements products
ReplyDelete@Expat , do you know something called Globalization !!??
Same idiots as Orthodox Jews raging against Intel because of some religious idiocy. The only difference is that majority of Israelis condemn it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, in Egypt, they welcome it.
Lack of foreign investments is not caused by "Egyptian regime" but by Egyptians themselves as most of things. Egyptians want Egypt to be poor and the world is cool about that.
I know dear it is common worldwide dear ...but I just never believed this would do anything whatever was the subject of the protest. :D
ReplyDeleteI know all about globalization... and it is not supposed to be a one way street.
ReplyDeleteJohn ...
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the rare times I agree with you....!!!! The problem is basically the idea of nationalization dominating the Egyptian mentality since the British withdrawal 1954.
John and expat , ok we are a poor retard third world county , happy now get lost both of you
ReplyDeleteBy the way John are any cafe chains from your country outside your borders !!??
Akher Ayam , we are not dealing here with economics and FDI attraction , already Starbuck is a franchise is owned by a Gulf businessman
the nationalization my dear started
in 1960
are you against the withdrawal of the British forces in 1954 ??
Sorry if you were offended, I was making a legitimate point, not attacking Egypt. Protesting against Starbucks will not change the situation. Looking at the facts and doing something about it might.
ReplyDelete@ John: "lack of foreign investment"?!!! BTW Egypt has been listed as one of the top developing economies in the region, good figures for foreign investment and is one of 12 other countries to look out for according to the man who first came up with the BRIC countries theory. Get your facts checked first.
ReplyDeletePpl are free to demonstrate and protest wherever they want, as long as its peaceful. In several countries those opposing US policies demonstrated in front of MC Donalds. There is no wrong or right way. So, those who think they can tell ppl how to do things, stop imposing your opinions on others
Anonym:
ReplyDeleteexactly, facts
Z:
I already said it once "my disagreement with you does not mean I hate you or insult you", I have good Egyptian friends, I want Egypt to be a developed country, but with your mentality it will never happen.
I am glad that they protest peacefully in front of the cafe. I have boycott Starbuck for a long time since they supported the Zionist though am an american citizen! I rather drink my coffee from the gas station they served good quality coffee too!! Those Egyptian people who frequent this place are only for status and show off! there are many cafe around Egypt e.g. Cilantro, Coffee Bean and others so dont worry Egyptians can survived without Starbucks! funny thing though they are no Starbucks in Israel not a single one and it was closed due to the news Starbuck contributed money to the Zionist regime!
ReplyDelete@John: The facts are there we are not here to fetch them for you. Check reports from leading international investment groups as well as leading financial news agencies like FTs etc. Personally, I have doubts about future predictions of a leading role, bec one of the factors to consider is political stability, which no one is sure of right now. Also, as an Egyptian these figures mean nothing positive to me as long as the majority of the population are living under worse conditions and that is felt not only by the majority of the lower class but even by those who belong to the middle class like myself.
ReplyDeleteZ's mentality isnt the problem here the problem is the mentality of ppl like you John. "developed country" is a racist term in its self and we wont be a better place if we imitated your country or the West we will be a better place if we make choices that suit us best and when we become serious in defending our interests instead of just yielding to the West or to its way of living. So, may be you need to stop telling us how to do things for a change and think that may be just like you and your ppl made up the systems that worked for them best and had the right to choose for themselves we also have that right.
Americans boycotted English products during the independence war.Indians did the same thing.Egypt has become a big market and demonstrating and boycotting certain products can make people see sense.John ,we have every right to be a self-hating nation if this is what you think of us and if you are living in Egypt which people can leave at any time if they don't like it.Expat,I can see you have already left
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work Zenobia!
ReplyDeletehahahahahaha ....no certainly I am not against the British withdrawal.I meant that the sudden feeling of having an independent nation gradually turned into overnationalization,a sort of xenophobism esp.in the 1960s.:)))
ReplyDelete