Thursday, February 16, 2006

Arab News looks at the Arab "boycott"

Who Is Boycotting Whom? is the title of the editorial.
There is an old saying about cutting off your nose to spite your face. This is a sensible read which would be of particular interest to those who continue to paint the entire Arab/Muslim world with a very broad brush. H/T John Burgess.

An economic newspaper stated recently that the income of one Danish man is equivalent to 40 Arabs. Is it true, like so many community and mosque leaders say, that the Danish economy relies heavily on the Arab market?

...Denmark is indeed a major butter exporter, but it’s also a major producer of insulin, the treatment for diabetes. According to the Health Ministry, 90 percent of diabetic Saudis use insulin. Boycotting is a healthy protest as long as it achieves the goal of registering protest, and not in the barbaric manner a handful of Muslims behaved by burning down government property. This does more harm than good. It is hypocrisy and a big lie if we believe that these people committed these acts out of love for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

...If we decided to boycott every country that offends us, we will walk naked on the streets.

When we move from being poor educated consumers to highly productive and educated producers, then we can talk about boycotting products.

I wonder if the Arab counterparts of patriotic American conservatives beat up their liberal media as much as ours.

Probably.

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