Calls for boycotts of U.S. products intensify

Calls for boycotts of U.S. products intensify

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The continuing war in Iraq has increased demands for a boycott of
United States' products nationwide in protest of the superpower's
leading role in the military invasion of the Middle East state.

Some 50 students with the Solidarity Forum of Jayabaya
University staged a rally outside the American Express Bank on
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding
that Indonesians boycott American interests and products.

The rally turned ugly when the students began pelting the
building's windows with paint missiles and eggs, colorfully
soiling the windows and front lobby of the building.

Fathia Syarif, the American Express Bank public affairs and
communications manager, refused to comment on the incident.

Calls to boycott everything to with the U.S. and its Iraq
coalition allies also took place in several other cities like
Yogyakarta, Riau and Cilacap.

In Yogyakarta, some 500 activists from the People's Anti-
Imperialism Front (FRAI) marched about four kilometers from
Gadjah Mada University to the U.S. franchise restaurant
McDonald's in Malioboro Mall on Jl. Malioboro to picket the
restaurant.

The protesters also picketed two outlets of another U.S.-based
franchise, Kentucky Fried Chicken on their way to Jl. Malioboro.

"We do this not because we want to disturb our brothers and
sisters who are making a living here. We are against
imperialism," yelled the protesters, while the others pasted
signs to indicate that they had unofficially banned people from
the restaurant.

The call for a boycott of American interests also came from 70
members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) who rallied in front
of the compound of American-linked oil company PT Caltex Pacific
Indonesia in the Riau town of Bengkalis, 100 kilometers north of
the provincial capital Pekanbaru.

The activists were met by a company executive Suwito Anggoro,
who said the company understood the protesters' demands. Suwito,
however, asserted that the private company was not involved in
politics and had no link to the U.S. government.

"Our focus is to increase the revenues of the governments of
Indonesia, Riau and regency where we operate our business,"
Suwito told the demonstrators.

In Cilacap, Central Java, nearly 3,000 protesters took to the
streets to urge the government to sever diplomatic ties with the
U.S. in addition to their call for a boycott of U.S. products.

Also participating in the rally were Regent Probo Yulastoro
and speaker of the regency's legislature Frans Lukman.

The anti-U.S. rallies turned rowdy in Jakarta and Surabaya.

Around 300 students from Syarief Hidayatulah State Islamic
University pelted the British Embassy with water balloons and
threw rotten tomatoes into the U.S. Embassy compound. They also
burned an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush.

In Surabaya, around 200 students from the Indonesian Muslim
Students Action Front (KAMMI) also hurled rotten tomatoes at
the U.S. Consulate. They forced their way into the consulate's
compound, but a police cordon was finally able to halt their
surge.

In response to the antiwar rallies targeting American
restaurants, Yanti Sukamdani, the chairperson of the Indonesian
Hotel and Restaurant Industry (PHRI), expressed her
disappointment, saying that the protests would adversely affect
the restaurant industry.

"If the protests go too far and lead to the closure of the
restaurants, Indonesia will pay the price dearly," Yanti told
reporters, on the sidelines of a national working meeting on
tourism here.

"Don't forget that the employees in those restaurants are
Indonesians. Should we sacrifice them?"

She said closures of the restaurants would also mean serious
consequences for other businesses and their employees.

"Many people depend on the restaurant industry, such as
vegetable, meat and beverage suppliers," she said.