The CEO of the Cola-Cola franchise in the Palestinian Authority has publicly called for a boycott of Israel, in violation of Coca-Cola’s policy and recent Congressional amendments to trade laws.
The holder of the franchise is Zahi Khouri, who heads the “Palestinian National Beverage Company.” He has written in U.S. media:
Non-violent efforts of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) advocates make sense as a means to force Israel to recognize that the occupation is not cost-free … countries, like those in the European Union, could enforce their own laws against doing businesses with countries that violate human rights.
Khouri signed his op-ed article as a “Palestinian-American businessman” but carefully omitted that he owns the Coca-Cola franchise in the Palestinian Authority.
Hei moved to the United States in 1967 and built a successful business until 1993, when the Oslo Accords attracted him to live in the Palestinian Authority.
The mega-businessman is one of the Palestinian Authority’s billionaires. Besides holding the Coca-Cola franchise, he runs the PA’s only mobile phone company.
Khouri, born in Jaffa next to Tel Aviv, also has frequently met with American government officials to lobby against Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria.
His call for a boycott follows the Orange company’s debacle that started out with a death wish for its franchise with Israel’s Partner Communications and ended up with a “We love Israel” act to climb down from a falling BDS tree.
Khouri faces the same fate.
Coca-Cola’s Code of Business Conduct for franchisees states:
Because The Coca-Cola Company is incorporated in the United States, our employees around the world often are subject to U.S. laws.
Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) has sent a warning letter to Coca-Cola that it will sue the firm if it does not rescind Khouri’s franchise. The letter also states:
The Coca-Cola Company should not affiliate itself with any person or entity calling for a boycott or similar effort against the Israeli government or the nation’s manufacturers, companies, products or services
Recent amendments by Congress require U.S. trade negotiators to ‘discourage politically motivated actions’ by foreign countries and international organizations that aim to ‘penalize or otherwise limit’ commercial relations with Israel or ‘persons doing business in Israel or in territories controlled by Israel.’
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has condemned Khouri’s call for a boycott of Israel as “outright anti-Semitism” and called on Coca-Cola to immediately and publicly condemn and repudiate his remarks.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said:
Zahi Khouri’s anti-Semitic remarks confirm him as an opponent of the Jewish State of Israel’s existence, one who seeks to ostracize, damage and ultimately overcome Israel by means of the BDS campaign of continual, progressive delegitimization of Israel so as to compel it to make untenable concessions to a Palestinian movement that has no intention of living in peace with Israel.
The support of BDS by the owner of the Coca-Cola franchise in the Palestinian Authority has done Israel a big favor because it is going to be another big boomerang for BDS and the Ramallah regime.
The U.S. House of Representatives last Friday approved a bill that would prohibit the United States from being a part of free trade agreements with the European Union if its participates in the Boycott Israel campaign.
Khouri’s call for a boycott will stir up more anger among Congressmen who already have passed measures to restrict aid to the Palestinian Authority.
The Democratic and Republican parties;’ campaigns for the 2016 presidential elections are moving not high gear, and each candidate will try to scream louder than the other against BDS.
It is reasonable to assume that Khouri will receive a phone call from Coca-Cola’s headquarters today telling him to keep to put the cap on his mouth.