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Germany anti us sentiments grow { March 28 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42607-2003Mar28.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42607-2003Mar28.html
Anti-War Sentiments Grow in Germany
By MELISSA EDDY
The Associated Press
Friday, March 28, 2003; 2:12 PM
German anti-war sentiment is beginning to take the form of local boycotts.
A German doctor has hung a sign on his door, refusing to treat "Americans, Britons and any others who support the war" in Iraq. Restaurants in Hamburg have taken Coca-Cola and other U.S. products from their menus.
While many of the actions are aimed galvanizing large-scale boycotts of U.S. conglomerates like Coke and McDonalds, others, like the doctor in the northern German town of Rendsburg, are a more personal anti-war statement.
A handwritten sign on the door to 61-year-old Eberhard Hoffmann's dermatology practice warns anyone from countries belonging to the U.S.-led alliance against seeking treatment from him.
"I forbid Americans and Britons, as well as anyone else who supports the war to enter my practice," Hoffmann said Friday. "The war in Iraq is a crime."
Hoffmann acknowledged he has no U.S. or British patients and said the action was largely symbolic. But it indicates how deep German anti-war feelings are running.
Recent polls have shown that more than 80 percent of Germans are against the war in Iraq and fully stand behind Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's tough stance against President Bush's policy in Iraq.
In the northern port city of Hamburg, 10 French restaurant owners collectively decided last week to strike American products, including Coca-Cola, bourbon and Marlboro cigarettes, from their menus.
Jean-Yves Mabileau from L'Auberge Francaise said he was happy to take part in the action, partly out of retaliation against the boycott of French products in the United States and partly to protest the war.
While he described the restaurant's participation in the boycott as very subtle, saying there are no signs posted on its windows and clients are not otherwise notified, he threatened to take things a step further if the war did not end soon.
"If the Americans won't calm down, I'll start refusing to accept American Express and other U.S. credit cards," said Mabileau, adding he didn't think the move would hurt business.
Yet the head of a leading German-American trade association warned Friday that efforts to punish the United States could backfire, hurting the local economy far more than the U.S. giants.
"The Coca-Cola drunk in Germany is manufactured in Germany with German employees and they only hurt themselves," said Fred Irwin, head of the Frankfurt-based American Chamber of Commerce.
The sentiment was echoed by Ricarda Ruecker, a spokeswoman for McDonalds Germany, who said the company has seen no decline in its sales. She added that the company has worked hard to put across the message that it was German.
"The name doesn't really tell you anything," Ruecker said. "A boycott in Germany would only damage the economy here."
Yet the boycott movement is not confined to Germany. Irwin noted several Web sites call out for Europeans to stop consuming leading U.S. products and other countries have seen similar calls to reject of American goods.
Greek filmmakers, including award-winning director Theo Angelopoulos, have called for a boycott of U.S. movies to protest the war in Iraq.
In the southeastern French city of Bayonne, the staff of a bar run by Basque antimilitarists dumped their Coca-Cola stocks into the sewers Saturday.
Jean Bidegain, who runs the Triki bar, called on other establishments in the city to do the same and handed out a flyer reading: "No to war, no to American imperialism, boycott Coca-Cola."
Insisting that business and politics should not mix, Irwin said such displays are the wrong way to try to change international policy.
"I have to say to myself, 'What do these good-meaning individuals hope to achieve?'" he said. "This will not change the course of the war or influence the president's decision."
© 2003 The Associated Press
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