Muslims in Russia Boycott Israeli Goods

By Damir Ahmed,
Moscow,
Islam Online
6 May 2002

The Russian Muslim League has decided to implement a complete boycott of Israeli and American goods found in Russian markets, protesting against the massacres carried out by the Israeli occupation army in Palestine.

This decision was announced in the closing ceremony of a conference on “Russian Muslims and Contemporary Issues”, held in Benza in eastern Russia from May 2-4, 2002.

The head of the religious administration of the Russian Muslim League, Sheikh Nafiullah Ashirov, told the website www.islam.ru that “Russian Muslims must boycott Israeli goods because the money that the Israeli companies get is used to support Israel in its plan to exterminate the Palestinian people.”

Ashirov added that this boycott represented the “smaller jihad” against Israel until the opportunity to travel to Palestine to perform the “larger jihad”. He also accused the United States and the west of supporting the war on Islamic countries in its continued backing of Israel.

The Mufti of the Republic of Tataristan, Othman Isaacov stated that “our hearts are in Palestine, and our souls are in Afghanistan; in solidarity with the Islamic peoples in their fight for self-defense. This is why we have to help them by boycotting all American and Israeli goods.”

The Islamic Russian newspaper, Al-Fikr, published names of American and Israeli companies Saturday, May 4. These companies include Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Heinz, New Alex, Rodina, California Gardens, among others.