By Munir K. Nasser
Chief Correspondent, Washington, DC
Albawaba.com
Arab American organizations are strongly protesting the decision of General Motors (GM), one of the largest auto manufacturers in the United States, to sponsor a conference in the Israeli settlement of Ariel, one of the largest illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Leading the protest against General Motors is the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) which objected to GM’s sponsorship of an academic conference scheduled for November 13 -15 at the so-called “Judea and Samaria College” at the Ariel settlement.
ADC President Hala Maksoud wrote to GM officials expressing ADC’s strong objections to GM’s participation in the conference. Maksoud has also written to Dr. Ismat Abdul-Meguid, Secretary-General of the Arab League asking that the League use its influence and good offices to convince GM that it is unacceptable and not in their interests to engage in activities supporting illegal Israeli settlements, particularly under the current circumstances.
In a letter to GM President Richard Wagoner, Maksoud said: “If the conference goes ahead with your sponsorship, General Motors will be participating in and endorsing the occupation of Arab lands by Israel, the settling of Israeli citizens in the occupied territories and the apartheid conditions that are applied on the settlements and throughout the occupied territories.”
ADC did not call for a boycott against GM, but released an action alert urging supporters to protest GM's participation in the conference.
Hussein Ibish, ADC Communication Director, told Albawaba.com that his organization would look carefully into what steps to take against the giant corporation. “We are waiting to hear from GM in response to our letter. We will not rush into anything. I can’t tell you what our next move will be,” he said.
When asked about the possibility of a boycott of GM products, Ibish said ADC called for boycotts in the past, but a boycott would be the last resort in this case. “When you do that, you have to be sure that your case is sufficient for a boycott, and you have sufficient resources to carry it out,” he said.
On Wednesday, it appeared that General Motors was withdrawing its sponsorship of the Ariel conference. But later in the day, however, GM's director of international communications, John Mueller, issued a statement that indicated continued GM support for the conference. “General Motors has no people directly involved in it, nor have we had any input into the content, timing or location of the conference,” the GM statement said. “Obviously, our co-sponsorship of a scientific conference is in no way intended to take sides in the current conflict, nor to inject our company into a political controversy.”
GM also said that it is supportive of efforts to end the tragic consequences of this conflict and to promote a peaceful resolution. “GM does business in many countries in the Middle East and hopes to sponsor similar, worthwhile technical and scientific conferences in other countries in the region in the future,” said the GM statement.
Ibish said ADC does not really know why GM made one decision and then reversed it. He said ADC is not going to give up, even though the conference has already been held. “Mr. Muller’s argument is adding insult to injury,” he said. “It is very obvious, given his statement, that they don’t understand what the problem is in getting involved in a project in Ariel and what the implications are.”
Ibish believes it is up to the Arab American community to try to educate corporations like GM because they don’t seem to know what they are talking about. “I don’t think they were aware of where the conference was going to be held and the significance of that. We need to engage in a dialogue with them to explain what is wrong with that and try to get some assurance that they would not do it again,” he stressed.
On November 15, ADC President Maksoud wrote to GM President Richard Wagoner to reiterate her deep concern that General Motors decided to continue its sponsorship of the conference. “The statement by GM's director of international communications, John Mueller, rationalizing GM’s participation in settlement activity, completely fails to acknowledge that the event will be taking place in an illegal settlement in occupied territory,” she wrote.
Maksoud urged General Motors not to participate in or endorse illegal settlement activity, which “is unacceptable and disgraceful under any circumstances, but is especially disturbing at a time when the Palestinians are losing and risking their lives for their freedom from occupation.”
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
