American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee

Burger King's Israeli Franchisee Rikamor "Cannot Accept Closure Decision," Vows to Keep Illegal Restaurant Open.
Settlers Say Ma'ale Adumim is Part of Israel and Call For Boycott of Burger King.
(Note the contradiction of keeping the Burger King open in Ma'ale Adumim and at the same time calling for everyone else to conduct a "worldwide boycott" of Burger King! ) Please write to Burger King to express your congratulations and support for their principled decision to order the removal of the illegal Burger King in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Please urge Burger King to take all necessary legal steps to ensure that Burger King is no longer present in the Israeli-Occupied Territories.
Please Write to:
Mr. Dennis Malamatinas
Burger King Corporation
1777 Old Cutler Road Miami,
FL 33157, USA.
Phone: 305-378-7011
Fax: 305-378-7262
email to: Malamatinas c/o Marion Hoffman,
Manager of Community Relations
<mhoffman@whopper.com>
ADC LETTER TO BK:
8/29/99
Dennis Malamatinas
CEO, Burger King
By fax: (305) 378-7262
Dear Mr. Malamatinas:
I write to you on behalf of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the nation's largest Arab-American grassroots organization, to thank Burger King for its courageous and principled decision to remove its restaurant from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
It is our understanding that Burger King was never properly informed of the location of Ma'ale Adumim, the West Bank settlement in question, and was led to believe that this was a part of Israel rather than occupied territory. As you know settlement activity, including the establishment of businesses, in areas under foreign military occupation is strictly forbidden by the Geneva Convention and other instruments of international law. The status of the West Bank as an occupied territory is not in question and has been recognized many times by the United Nations, beginning with UN Security Council Resolution 242. All United States administrations have regarded Israeli settlement activity as an obstacle to peace. It is reassuring to know that Burger King did not knowingly participate in illegal settlement and was deceived by its Israeli franchisee. It is also reassuring that Burger King quickly moved to order the closure of the Ma'ale Adumim restaurant as a Burger King. We commend you for this appropriate and principled stance.
We urge you to take all necessary to steps to ensure that Burger King is no longer present in the Israeli-Occupied Territories. Your statement on the issue rightly points to the importance of Burger King's reputation, which has now been restored. Please bear in mind that the settlement movement represents an extremist viewpoint at odds with US policy and the consensus of the international community and international law.
Once again, we thank Burger King for acting promptly to correct this situation once the full facts and implications became clear.
Yours,
Hala Maksoud, Ph.D.
President
ARTICLES ON VOWS TO DISREGARD AND OVERTURN BK'S DECISION:
The following two articles detail Rikamor Ltd. and the American Zionist movement's vows to disregard and overturn Burger King's decision to close the settlement BK.
Ha'aretz Daily <http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/htmls/kat13_6.htm>
Sunday, August 29, 1999
Israeli franchisee vows to fight decision to close Burger King in Ma'aleh Adumim
By Nitzan Horowitz and Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aret z Correspondents and Itim
WASHINGTON - Following Burger King's decision to remove its name from its franchisee's restaurant in Ma'aleh Adumim, Arab and Muslim organizations in the United States have canceled their boycott of the fast food chain, announced three weeks ago.
Meshulam Riklis, chairman of the board of directors of Rikamor Ltd., the Burger King (BK) franchisee in Israel, said Friday in Los Angeles that he would fight the chain's decision to close the restaurant. He said the company had informed him by letter that it would not have approved the location because of the peace process and the sensitive situation in the area. But Riklis added that Rikamor had received all the authorizations required. Sources at Rikamor said that BK representatives had visited the restaurant before it opened and were aware of the location.
Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, sharply criticized Burger King's decision. In a letter sent yesterday to BK's CEO, Foxman charged that BK was bowing to the pressure of Arab and Muslim organizations in the United States, and that the decision made the company an accomplice to efforts to renew the Arab boycott. If BK does not reconsider, Foxman warned, the matter would be brought to the attention of the Secretary of Commerce, the Attorney General and the Congress.
The mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim, Benny Kashriel, said the decision would harm the peace process. Politics and the food business should not be confused, he added. Kashriel said he has already contacted Malcolm Honlein, President of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the White House and the State Department. He warned that if BK doesn't withdraw its decision, he will call on American Jewry to boycott the chain. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has also informed its 2,500 delegations throughout the world to fight the decision, and will, if necessary, ask its supporters to join the boycott. Kashriel has also contacted Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and MKs from the Likud, and wants a special Knesset session on this matter.
AP Worldstream
BY NATI HARNIK
MAALEH ADUMIM, West Bank
Backed by Jewish settlers who long for brand-name legitimacy, Burger King's Israeli franchisee swore Friday to fight the fast food giant's break with a branch in a West Bank Jewish settlement.
The conflict is resonating in a country where brand names that blight other landscapes are seen here as hard-won symbols of legitimacy defiant tokens of resistance to decades of boycotts of Israel by companies under pressure from far more lucrative Arab markets.
Angry Israeli settlers called for a worldwide boycott of Burger King restaurants and a halt to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, after the chain canceled its franchise in Maale Adumim, a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem.
The decision followed a threat by Arab Americans to boycott the chain if the Maale Adumim eatery remained open. A statement from Burger King headquarters in Miami did not mention the threat, saying the decision was made for ''commercial reasons and in the best interests of hundreds of thousands of people'' who work for the chain.
Meshulam Riklis, the Israeli magnate who chairs Rikamor, the franchisee, instructed his officers to take action by ''all legal means available to the company'' in Israeli courts to resist Burger King's decision.
''Rikamor received all the required permits according to the international regulations of Burger King, and we cannot accept'' the closure decision, a Rikamor statement said.
Maaleh Adumim residents began mobilizing an anti-boycott boycott of Burger King.
''This Burger King will be open a long time,'' Noah Maayan, the manager of the Adumim Mall, said after ordering a Whopper.
The Arab boycott all but died after the 1993 breakthrough Oslo accords brought Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table.
Now, Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Blockbuster logos dot the land, and once-exotic Japanese car models kiss bumpers on the highways but most companies remain wary of trading in land Palestinians hope to claim in a final settlement.
The decision was welcomed by the Arab groups that had pressed for the break.
''We are glad that Burger King came to realize that its participation in Israeli settlement activity was irresponsible and must end,'' said Hala Maksoud, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, D.C.
The decision hit this community especially hard many among the 25,000 residents are moderates who back evacuating further-flung settlements in order to keep Maaleh Adumim within Israel in a final settlement.
Maaleh Adumim's mayor, Benny Kashriel, called Burger King's decision a ''a shame and an abomination.''
Kashriel was elected head of the settlers' council after Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a moderate committed to ceding land, trounced hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu in May elections.
The mayor represents a new generation of settlers who concede some other settlements must go, as opposed an older guard of absolutist settler leaders, and he is seen as the perfect leader to persuade Barak to keep as much territory as he can.
That's why Burger King's pullout hit so hard, Kashriel told The Associated Press: His city was not the kind of extremist settlement that necessarily alienates the Arabs.
''Maaleh Adumim, in the final agreement, will be a legal part of Israel,'' he said, lining up for a meal on a typically slow pre-Sabbath Friday afternoon.
Meantime, he said, he would pull out his own big guns. ''We are calling on Jewish organizations and our friends, Jews and Christians, to boycott Burger King,'' he said. He appeared to have backing among U.S. Jews: In a letter to the company, Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham H. Foxman said the decision ''represents a blatant capitulation ... to American Arab and American Muslim organizations.''
Kashriel said the decision could backfire and harm Palestinians. He said his council was considering blocking some 1,000 Palestinians who work in the settlement's industrial zone from coming to work, and would stop providing essential services _ firefighters and ambulances to neighboring Palestinian areas.
''Connecting hamburgers to international politics is a stupid thing to do,'' he said. Burger King operates more than 10,500 franchises around the world, including more than 40 in Israel. The company also has 80 restaurants in the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. It plans to open restaurants in Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt and Lebanon.

	29- August- 1999
	Please write to BK to Express Support for its Principled Decision on West Bank Restaurant.

	Burger King's Israeli Franchisee Rikamor "Cannot Accept Closure Decision," Vows to Keep Illegal Restaurant Open. Settlers Say Ma'ale Adumim is Part of Israel and Call For Boycott of Burger King. (Note the contradiction of keeping the Burger King open in Ma'ale Adumim and at the same time calling for everyone else to conduct a "worldwide boycott" of Burger King! ) Please write to Burger King to express your congratulations and support for their principled decision to order the removal of the illegal Burger King in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Please urge Burger King to take all necessary legal steps to ensure that Burger King is no longer present in the Israeli-Occupied Territories. Please Write to: Mr. Dennis Malamatinas Burger King Corporation 1777 Old Cutler Road Miami, FL 33157, USA. Phone: 305-378-7011 Fax: 305-378-7262 email to: Malamatinas c/o Marion Hoffman, Manager of Community Relations <mhoffman@whopper.com> ADC LETTER TO BK: 8/29/99 Dennis Malamatinas CEO, Burger King By fax: (305) 378-7262 Dear Mr. Malamatinas: I write to you on behalf of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the nation's largest Arab-American grassroots organization, to thank Burger King for its courageous and principled decision to remove its restaurant from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is our understanding that Burger King was never properly informed of the location of Ma'ale Adumim, the West Bank settlement in question, and was led to believe that this was a part of Israel rather than occupied territory. As you know settlement activity, including the establishment of businesses, in areas under foreign military occupation is strictly forbidden by the Geneva Convention and other instruments of international law. The status of the West Bank as an occupied territory is not in question and has been recognized many times by the United Nations, beginning with UN Security Council Resolution 242. All United States administrations have regarded Israeli settlement activity as an obstacle to peace. It is reassuring to know that Burger King did not knowingly participate in illegal settlement and was deceived by its Israeli franchisee. It is also reassuring that Burger King quickly moved to order the closure of the Ma'ale Adumim restaurant as a Burger King. We commend you for this appropriate and principled stance. We urge you to take all necessary to steps to ensure that Burger King is no longer present in the Israeli-Occupied Territories. Your statement on the issue rightly points to the importance of Burger King's reputation, which has now been restored. Please bear in mind that the settlement movement represents an extremist viewpoint at odds with US policy and the consensus of the international community and international law. Once again, we thank Burger King for acting promptly to correct this situation once the full facts and implications became clear. Yours, Hala Maksoud, Ph.D. President ARTICLES ON VOWS TO DISREGARD AND OVERTURN BK'S DECISION: The following two articles detail Rikamor Ltd. and the American Zionist movement's vows to disregard and overturn Burger King's decision to close the settlement BK. Ha'aretz Daily <http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/htmls/kat13_6.htm> Sunday, August 29, 1999 Israeli franchisee vows to fight decision to close Burger King in Ma'aleh Adumim By Nitzan Horowitz and Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aret z Correspondents and Itim WASHINGTON - Following Burger King's decision to remove its name from its franchisee's restaurant in Ma'aleh Adumim, Arab and Muslim organizations in the United States have canceled their boycott of the fast food chain, announced three weeks ago. Meshulam Riklis, chairman of the board of directors of Rikamor Ltd., the Burger King (BK) franchisee in Israel, said Friday in Los Angeles that he would fight the chain's decision to close the restaurant. He said the company had informed him by letter that it would not have approved the location because of the peace process and the sensitive situation in the area. But Riklis added that Rikamor had received all the authorizations required. Sources at Rikamor said that BK representatives had visited the restaurant before it opened and were aware of the location. Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, sharply criticized Burger King's decision. In a letter sent yesterday to BK's CEO, Foxman charged that BK was bowing to the pressure of Arab and Muslim organizations in the United States, and that the decision made the company an accomplice to efforts to renew the Arab boycott. If BK does not reconsider, Foxman warned, the matter would be brought to the attention of the Secretary of Commerce, the Attorney General and the Congress. The mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim, Benny Kashriel, said the decision would harm the peace process. Politics and the food business should not be confused, he added. Kashriel said he has already contacted Malcolm Honlein, President of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the White House and the State Department. He warned that if BK doesn't withdraw its decision, he will call on American Jewry to boycott the chain. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has also informed its 2,500 delegations throughout the world to fight the decision, and will, if necessary, ask its supporters to join the boycott. Kashriel has also contacted Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and MKs from the Likud, and wants a special Knesset session on this matter. AP Worldstream BY NATI HARNIK MAALEH ADUMIM, West Bank Backed by Jewish settlers who long for brand-name legitimacy, Burger King's Israeli franchisee swore Friday to fight the fast food giant's break with a branch in a West Bank Jewish settlement. The conflict is resonating in a country where brand names that blight other landscapes are seen here as hard-won symbols of legitimacy defiant tokens of resistance to decades of boycotts of Israel by companies under pressure from far more lucrative Arab markets. Angry Israeli settlers called for a worldwide boycott of Burger King restaurants and a halt to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, after the chain canceled its franchise in Maale Adumim, a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem. The decision followed a threat by Arab Americans to boycott the chain if the Maale Adumim eatery remained open. A statement from Burger King headquarters in Miami did not mention the threat, saying the decision was made for ''commercial reasons and in the best interests of hundreds of thousands of people'' who work for the chain. Meshulam Riklis, the Israeli magnate who chairs Rikamor, the franchisee, instructed his officers to take action by ''all legal means available to the company'' in Israeli courts to resist Burger King's decision. ''Rikamor received all the required permits according to the international regulations of Burger King, and we cannot accept'' the closure decision, a Rikamor statement said. Maaleh Adumim residents began mobilizing an anti-boycott boycott of Burger King. ''This Burger King will be open a long time,'' Noah Maayan, the manager of the Adumim Mall, said after ordering a Whopper. The Arab boycott all but died after the 1993 breakthrough Oslo accords brought Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table. Now, Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Blockbuster logos dot the land, and once-exotic Japanese car models kiss bumpers on the highways but most companies remain wary of trading in land Palestinians hope to claim in a final settlement. The decision was welcomed by the Arab groups that had pressed for the break. ''We are glad that Burger King came to realize that its participation in Israeli settlement activity was irresponsible and must end,'' said Hala Maksoud, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, D.C. The decision hit this community especially hard many among the 25,000 residents are moderates who back evacuating further-flung settlements in order to keep Maaleh Adumim within Israel in a final settlement. Maaleh Adumim's mayor, Benny Kashriel, called Burger King's decision a ''a shame and an abomination.'' Kashriel was elected head of the settlers' council after Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a moderate committed to ceding land, trounced hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu in May elections. The mayor represents a new generation of settlers who concede some other settlements must go, as opposed an older guard of absolutist settler leaders, and he is seen as the perfect leader to persuade Barak to keep as much territory as he can. That's why Burger King's pullout hit so hard, Kashriel told The Associated Press: His city was not the kind of extremist settlement that necessarily alienates the Arabs. ''Maaleh Adumim, in the final agreement, will be a legal part of Israel,'' he said, lining up for a meal on a typically slow pre-Sabbath Friday afternoon. Meantime, he said, he would pull out his own big guns. ''We are calling on Jewish organizations and our friends, Jews and Christians, to boycott Burger King,'' he said. He appeared to have backing among U.S. Jews: In a letter to the company, Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham H. Foxman said the decision ''represents a blatant capitulation ... to American Arab and American Muslim organizations.'' Kashriel said the decision could backfire and harm Palestinians. He said his council was considering blocking some 1,000 Palestinians who work in the settlement's industrial zone from coming to work, and would stop providing essential services _ firefighters and ambulances to neighboring Palestinian areas. ''Connecting hamburgers to international politics is a stupid thing to do,'' he said. Burger King operates more than 10,500 franchises around the world, including more than 40 in Israel. The company also has 80 restaurants in the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. It plans to open restaurants in Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt and Lebanon.