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Italian Jews outraged at 'anti-Semitic' calls of embargo
Malaysia Muslims begin US boycott over Gaza


KUALA LUMPUR (AlArabiya.net, Agencies)

A Malaysian Muslim group began a boycott of some major U.S. products on Friday as Italian politicians joined Jewish groups in condemning a trade union's call to boycott Jewish-owned shops in Rome.

The Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia said Muslims in the Southeast Asian country would not buy goods produced by U.S. toothpaste manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive Co, soft drink maker Coca-Cola and coffee chain Starbucks to protest U.S. inaction against the attacks.


"We urge Muslim consumers internationally to unite so that we can teach a lesson to Israel and its allies," Ma'amor Osman, an official with the association, told reporters in the compound of the national mosque after Friday (Jumaa) prayers.

"This is to object to the arrogance and cruelty of Israel and its allies towards the Palestinians."

He urged the Malaysian government to end all its contracts with U.S.-owned firms.


Coca-Cola

" Given the local nature of our business, we believe that calls for boycotts of our products are not the appropriate way to further any causes, as they primarily hurt the local economy, local businesses and local citizens "
Coca-Cola\'s Malaysia directorCoca-Cola spoke against a boycott of its drinks and said it would only hurt the local economy and citizens.

"As everybody else, we are deeply touched by the human side of the situation in the Middle East," Kadri Taib, Coca-Cola Malaysia public affairs and communications director, said in a statement.

"Given the local nature of our business, we believe that calls for boycotts of our products are not the appropriate way to further any causes, as they primarily hurt the local economy, local businesses and local citizens."

It said the beverage company employs some 1,700 Malaysians, 60 percent of whom are Malay Muslims, who dominate the multicultural nation's population.

The United States is among Malaysia's single largest export markets, absorbing more than a tenth of its total shipments.


Italy slams 'anti-Semitism'

" I am an Italian citizen and it infuriates me that people don't differentiate between the mentality and opinions of an Italian from what is happening in Israel "
Jewish Italian shopkeeperIn related news, Italian politicians from right and left slammed a call to boycott
Jewish-owned shops in Rome in protest over Israel's bombing of Gaza.

While the union denied accusations of anti-Semitism, Rome's right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno visited the city's ancient Jewish quarter known as the Ghetto and said the "criminal" proposal echoed the race laws under fascism in the 1930s.

"I am an Italian citizen and it infuriates me that people don't differentiate between the mentality and opinions of an Italian from what is happening in Israel," Jewish Italian shopkeeper Giuseppe Livoli told La Repubblica newspaper.

Italian newspapers reproduced handbills they said were dished out on Thursday by the small Flaica-Cub union, linked to the retail and food sectors. The flyers urged a boycott of "shops in central Rome linked to the Israelite community".

But the union's provincial president Giancarlo Desiderati said on its website on Friday that "we never singled out Rome's Jewish community , We condemn any form of anti-Semitism".


" What we propose with our initiative is a definitive boycott of Israel because whoever uses military force against unarmed civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, commits a crime against human life. "
Union president"What we propose with our initiative is a definitive boycott of Israel because whoever uses military force against unarmed civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, commits a crime against human life," said Desiderati.

The head of Rome's Jewish community, Riccardo Pacifici, said he would be suing the union under Italian anti-racism laws

Italy's main trade unions denounced the boycott proposal as "shameful" and suggested that Rome shopkeepers throw the Flaica handbills -- which they said listed streets dominated by Jewish shops under the slogan "sales dirtied by blood" -- in the trash.