PRODUCTS & AFFILIATED COMPANIES:
| Starbucks Coffee Stores (4,709 locations world-wide) see[8][9][10] for details. Starbuck coffee, chocolates, biscuits & ice-cream products Seattle Coffee Company in the United Kingdom with more than 60 retail locations (aquired 1998). Pasqua Inc., a San Francisco based coffee retailer in (aquired 1998). Hear Music, a San Francisco based music company (aquired 1999). Tazo®, a Portland, Oregon based tea company (aquired 1999). |
RESEARCH FINDINGS :
| Howard Shultz, the chairman of Starbucks is an active zionist. In 1998 he was honoured by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah with "The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award" for his services to the zionist state in "playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel". The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah funds israeli arms fairs chaired by the butcher of Jenin - General Shaul Mofaz, and the zionist propaganda website honestreporting.com.[1] |  Howard Shultz, Chairman of Starbucks |
His work as a propagandist for Israel has been praised by the Israeli Foreign Ministry as being key to Israel's long-term PR success [2].
Recently whilst the Israeli army was slaughtering Palestinians in Jenin, Nabulus and Bethlehem he made a provocative speech blaming the Palestinians of terrorism, suggesting the intifada was a manifestation of anti- Semitism, and asked people to unite behind Israel [3].
At a time when other businesses were desperately pulling out of Israel, Starbucks decided to help Israel's floundering economy and invest in Israel - a joint venture with Israeli conglomerate Delek Group for Starbucks outlets in Israel ( Shalom Coffee Co).[4][5][6]. A bad business decision - Starbucks made heavy losses and in April 2003 Starbucks were forced to announced that all 6 Starbucks cafes in Israel will be shut down and its partnership with Delek end.[14]
It has been revealed that Starbucks still continues to support Israel by sponsoring fund raisers for Israel.[15]
See [11] for suggested action against Starbucks..
Oxfam has misguidedly partnered with Starbucks in return for £100,000 - please support our "Campaign Against Oxfam Agreement with Starbucks".
Starbucks fully supports Bush's war of terror and has opened a Starbucks in Afghanistan for the US invaders - they like to do there bit to help the occupation.[17]
ADDITIONAL INFO & REFs :
| [1] | Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award Howard Schultz was presented with "The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award" by the The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah in August 27, 1998. [a][e] According to the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah "The Friends of Zion award salutes leaders who have played key roles in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel"[e] Awards Page Mystery
Its interesting that the Israel 50th Anniversary Award given to Howard Schultz was once displayed with pride on the Starbucks website on the companys "Awards and Accolades" page but since the boycott started biting it has mysteriously disappeared from the page![a]
The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah 1. The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah sponsors Israeli military arms fairs chaired by the butcher of Jenin - General Shaul Mofaz, Israel's Minister of Defense. It aims to "strengthen the special connection between the American, European and Israeli defense industries" and "to showcase the newest Israeli innovations in defense".[f] 2. The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah also sponsors the zionist propaganda website "honestreporting.com".[g] 3. The Aish HaTorah, the main beneficiary of The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, whilst described as an apolitical international network of Jewish education centres, produces propaganda material for Israel. One video they produce by Rabbi Ken Spiro titled "The Islamic Connection to Jerusalem" starts "The Islamic connection begins in the 7th century, thousands of years after the original Jewish connection.." and continues to belittle Jerusalem's Islamic heritage - propaganda to justify Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.[b] Also featured on their site is "The Occupied Territories - A Primer" which denies the status of the West Bank and Gaza as "occupied" and argues that they be called "disputed territories"..[c] No wonder they were praised by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: "..I congratulate Aish HaTorah for what they're doing, where they're doing it, and for whom they're doing it."[d]
[a] http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/recognition.asp
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| [2] | Jerusalem Report http://www.jrep.com/Israel/Article-0.html Losing the Media Battle (April 22, 2002) "... The key to Israel’s long-term PR success, Meir(*) believes, is on the campuses of North America and Europe. Wealthy Jews like Howard Schultz, the owner of the Starbucks chain, are helping with student projects, including seminars held in both Israel and North America, in which students hear Israeli presentations on the crisis...." (*) Gideon Meir, the official in charge of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s PR effort.
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| [3] | http://www.king5.com/localnews/NW_040402WABschultz.43d45a4b.html Starbucks CEO says anti-Semitism on the rise Howard Shultz warns American Jews against complacency 04/04/2002 Reported by Elisa Hahn, KING 5 SEATTLE - Divisions within the Jewish community were on display Thursday in Seattle as Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz criticized Palestinian inaction in the Middle East while others protested the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. "If you leave this synagogue tonight and go back to your home and ignore this, then shame on us," Howard Schultz told a crowded temple of Jewish Americans on Seattle's Capitol Hill. Schultz warned other Jews against sitting back and doing nothing. "What is going on in the Middle East is not an isolated part of the world. The rise of anti-Semitism is at an all time high since the 1930's," he said. "The Palestinians aren't doing their job they're not stopping terrorism." While reaction inside the temple to Schultz's remarks grew from a warm reception to a standing ovation, the mood outside the temple was different. A handful of Jews gathered there to protest the Israeli government's actions of late and their occupation of Palestinian lands. There were similar sentiments Thursday at Seattle's Westlake center. "We only get the side that talks about Palestinians as terrorists. As if all the civilians right now living in a state of siege and terror are terrorists and they're not," said protestor Alethea Mundy, whose younger brother is in Bethlehem doing relief work for Palestinian refugees. She's worried about her brother, but realizes that everything is relative. "This is what the Palestinians live with every day, two weeks is nothing for my brother,"
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| [4] | http://www.aiccse.org/Newsletters/julaugsep_enewsletter2.htm American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region e-Newsletter JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2001 Starbucks will open its first two cafes in Tel Aviv during the first week of September and plans to open another three branches in the area by the end of the year with 15 more throughout Israel by the end of 2002. Israel-based Delek, which recently purchased a chain of US convenience stores and established its US headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, will be the majority shareholder in Starbucks Israel. see [13] for more on Delek's US connection.
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| [5] | http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2001/04/16/daily31.html Starbucks next market: Israel Starbucks Coffee Co. chairman Howard Schultz loves a challenge. He opened the Japanese market during the depths of that country's spectacular recession, and now he's set his sights on conflict-ridden Israel. The stores will be built through a joint venture company, Shalom Coffee Co., which will be owned by publicly traded Israeli conglomerate Delek Group and Starbucks Coffee International, Starbucks' internationally focused wholly-owned subsidiary. No word yet on how many Starbucks stores are planned for the tiny Middle Eastern nation, which has been plagued by escalating violence between Palestinians and the Israeli military since last fall.
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| [6] | Jerusalem Post, Sunday, April 22 2001 http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/04/20/Business/Business.24922.html Starbucks to open here later in year
According to the agreement, which is expected to be signed in the next few weeks, Delek will hold 80.5 percent of the coffee chain, while Starbucks Coffee International will hold the remaining 19.5%. Starbucks will have the option to increase its share to 50% at a later date. Originally Delek and Burger King co-owner Yair Hason were negotiating for a 40% share each in a venture with Starbucks, but a few months ago the deal was cancelled. The announcement that Starbucks will be coming is expected to be welcomed by local coffee lovers who have long been awaiting the rumored arrival of the chain which has with 3,600 stores in the US. According to the Delek Group the plan is "to open dozens of stores." The first stores are expected to open late this year. "We expect Israel to be an excellent market for Starbucks, with great growth opportunities," said Peter Masien, president of Starbucks Coffee International. Delek's investment in the coffee chain is part of its strategy to expand into new areas, said Giora Sarig, president of Delek's Israel Fuel Corporation, one of the three subsidiaries of the Delek Group. "We are delighted to become partners with such a world-class brand as Starbucks," he said. The coffee shops will not be connected to the Delek gas stations. The local competition is not overly concerned about the entrance of the well known chain. Aroma's operating manager Ben Balbinder told The Jerusalem Post that "more coffee stores will raise the awareness of coffee drinking." He added that according to his personal experience in the US, Starbucks coffee is not on the same level as that of Aroma. Aroma, which sells one and half tonnes of coffee a month, currently has eight cafes with another three are to be opened in the next two months. Balbinder said that the local coffee market is continuing to grow and has contributed to a decision to expand aggressively in the next year and a half. Starbucks , which has been traded on Nasdaq since 1992, has a current market capitalization of $7.8 billion, with more than 4,500 retail locations in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim. It is well represented in the Middle East with stores in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The company was founded in 1971 and also sells tea, pastries, ice creams, other food and beverages, and coffee accessories. The company also has an on-line store as well as selling directly to restaurants, businesses, airlines, and hotels. The Delek Group, which was founded in 1951, has three major subsidiaries: Israel Fuel Corporation, Delek Real Estate, and Delek Investments & Properties, a holding company for activities in automotive distribution and retailing, oil and gas exploration, biochemical manufacturing, convenience stores, and other retail operations. Delek is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a value of NIS 2.8b.
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| [7] | Two "Standard replies" activists are receiving from Starbucks when they complaint about the recent speech Howard Schultz made: First:
Second:
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| [8] | Startbuck Coffe have partnerships with:
Source: http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/friends.asp
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| [9] | Starbucks Coffee has 4,709 locations around the world in the following countries (Mulsim countries are shown in bold) Australia Source:
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| [10] | To locate your nearest Starbucks (internationally) see: http://www.starbucks.com/retail/default.asp
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| [11] |
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| [12] | Acording to Yahoo Finance: Howard Shultz's annual pay as Chairman of Starbucks is $2.2 Million, and last year he received an additional $22.6 Million from the value on options excercised in the fiscal year.[a] Howard Shultz also has interests in the following companies:
[a] http://biz.yahoo.com/p/S/SBUX.html
[d] http://biz.yahoo.com/t/29/1051.html
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| [13] | Boycott Mapco Express & East Coast store-gas stations An activist has pointed out that Delek (Starbucks Israeli partners) owns Mapco Express filling stations and convenience stores in Tennessee (198 stores) and East Coast convenience store-gas stations in Virginia (36 stores). These should be boycotted. Source: Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections Company News, Delek completes acquisition of Mepco Express filling stations [31-05-01] Delek Group said that it has completed its acquisition of 234 gas stations and convenience stores in the US for $ 234.5 mm. The acquisition consists of 198 Mapco Express filling stations and convenience stores in Tennessee in consideration for $ 147 mm and 36 East Coast convenience store-gas stations in Virginia for $ 36.5 mm The concerns will continue to carry their respective brands names following the transaction. Delek also announced that it is in the process of establishing Delek USA, a wholly owned US-based subsidiary which will conduct the company's American operations. The investment marks the Netanya-based company's first entrance into the overseas retail gasoline markets. Company president Avinoam Finkelman said that the decision to enter international markets is mostly due to eroding returns in the domestic market, a product, he believes of increased competition and government regulatory activity.
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| [14] | Starbucks Exits Israel April 2, 2003 All six Starbucks cafes in Israel will be shut down at the end of the week, Starbucks Coffee International and the Delek Group said as they announced the end of their brief partnership. All 120 of the coffee chain's employees in Israel will be laid off. According to Israel's Haaretz.com, poor sales and Delek's failure to find an investor to bail it out of a losing venture caused the decision to shut down the expensive coffeehouses. Starbucks Corp., the parent of Starbucks Coffee International, told Haaretz that its decision to dissolve the joint venture was driven by "market challenges," an allusion, the newspaper said, to "Israel's severe recession and security problems." http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-news-0381.html
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| [15] | Starbucks Sponsers Israel Fundraiser Bowl 4 Israel Starbucks sponsers "bowl 4 israel", one of the fund raisers for Israel organised by Elie Haller. Her last fund raiser was a barbeque that "raised $15,000 for a paratrooper unit in the Israel Defense Forces".[a] This time the money raised - some $50,000 was to be distributed to families of "Israeli terror victims" by the Israel Emergency Solidarity Fund (OneFamily).[a] [d] Innocent enough you may think, but you'd be wrong - apparently their definition of "terror victim" includes israeli soldiers who were killed whilst they were butchering Palestinian women and children during the Jenin massacre (April 2002). For April 2002, their spending record includes the following entry:
So the fund rewards the families of war criminals for a job well done!
No wonder the page on the web-site for bowl4israel which showed Starbuck as the sole sponser is now mysteriously showing a blank space where starbucks appeared.[b] A peek at the html code for the page reveals that Starbucks name and logo are still there but have been hidden - commented out - no doubt to protect it from the boycott.
[a] http://www.bowl4israel.org/article_heilman.jsp [b] http://www.bowl4israel.org/sponsors.jsp [c] http://www.onefamilyfund.org/OF_Right_2.asp?ID=377 [d] Israel Emergency Solidarity Fund(IESF) raises money in the US and its israeli counterpart OnFamily spends it in Israel, the two organisations have officially merged together.
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| [16] | ADL vouches for Starbucks zionist credentials After Starbucks closed down its cafes in Israel[14], many zionists were upset and accused Starbucks of succumbing to the boycott. Some even suggested boycotting Starbucks:
Its interesting to observe that it was the ultra-zionist Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that came to Starbucks rescue[b] and put down the zionist backlash against it. (For those unaware of the activities of the ADL see http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-news-0313.html ). As the New York Times put it:
It also quoted Starbuck chairman Howard Shultz, describing him as "a Jewish American who has long been supportive of Jewish organizations and causes in the United States and in Israel", saying that the company will return to Israel in due course.[a] See also [17] for another zionist defence of Starbucks. Many other zionist groups also came to Starbucks defence including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs whose alert[d] states:
[a] http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-starbucks_israel.htm [b] http://www.adl.org/rumors/starbucks_rumors.asp [c] New York Times, “New Economy” by Sherri Day Monday, June 2, 2003 [d] http://www.e-guana.net/organizations.php3?action=printContentItem&orgid=54&
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| [17] | Starbucks support War of Terror Starbucks have donated a store to the US army to help in the occupation of Afghanistan. See photos below from Afghanistan of US troops thanking Starbucks for their donation:
Source: NB: Boycott Watch is a zionist organisation[a] which provides the above photos as part of their campaign to support Starbucks from any possible zionist boycott for closing its stores in Israel. [a] "Boycott Watch and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) are Src: http://www.boycottwatch.org/abi/divest001.htm
Also according to the American Forces Press Service Nov.9 2004:
Src: Starbucks, Red Cross 'Bring a Bit of Home' to Overseas Troops, by Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service, Nov. 9, 2004 | ||
| [18] | Starbucks Leaflet One of our readers has designed a leaflet on Starbucks: Please note that we cannot take responsibility for the contents of the leaflet as we did not produce it, it does however seem to be based on the research above (thanks NEdo Sul) |
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