MEMRITV: Egyptian Cleric Hazem Abu Ismail Calls to Boycott PEPSI

MEMRI No. 2098|February 16, 2009
Egyptian Cleric Hazem Abu Ismail Calls to Boycott PEPSI: Name Stands for
"Pay Every Penny to Save Israel"

(For those of us who grew up in the U.S this is certainly ironic. See below)

Following are excerpts from an address by Egyptian cleric Hazem Abu Ismail,
which aired on Al-Nas TV on February 16, 2009.

To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2098.htm

Hazem Abu Ismail: Do you know what the word "Pepsi" means? Pepsi as in
P-E-P-S-I. The first P stands for "Pay." E stands for "Every." The third
letter stands for "Penny." A penny means any small coin you receive and
don't know what to do with. Pay it to "Saving" I - "Israel." In other words,
pay every small coin you receive in order to save Israel. They don't want
money from you - they want your small change, your pennies. If I'm not
mistaken, in American economics, a penny is one-thousandth of the dollar.
It's not even worth a piaster. It's only a millime. At least I think it's
worth a millime, not even a piaster.

They say: "Donate the small change you don't need, but give it to the right
cause. If you collect small change, you can buy this drink." They took the
first letter of each word - "Pay Every Penny Saving Israel" - and they
formed the word "Pepsi." When you pay [to buy Pepsi], you are saving Israel.
I am not talking about Pepsi, but about Coca Cola and all of them. I don't
want to specify the products. See for yourselves. You are Muslims. You can
tell me. I don't know. My little son knows more about the boycott than me.
When we go shopping, he says to me: "Buy this, don't buy that." He knows
them by heart. He has become an expert in this.

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Prior to 1992, Pepsi had backed the other horse, choosing to service the lucrative Coke-less Arab markets in the boycott days. For its decision to stay out of Israel (and thus itself avoid being placed on the Arab League's blacklist), Pepsi faced continued criticism in the United States. In certain circles it was considered politically incorrect to be seen drinking Pepsi.

The Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith investigated claims that Pepsi was participating in the boycott of Israel. U.S. law prohibited American companies from taking part in this boycott, but the law was vague, and outright violations were hard to pin down. Nothing ever came of the investigations, and Pepsi was never placed on the American government's list of violators.