Our Appetites Are Stronger Than Our Conscience

Soumaya Saleh

We tend to engage vigorously in discourse about how we wouldn't sell our honour and dignity in alliance with the "Israeli" enemy for all the money in the world. This is only true in the sense that it takes much less than all the money in the world for us to be financially backing the "Israeli" economy, and aiding it to flourish.

Nestlé is the world's largest food and nutrition company in the world, with over 1.4 billion USD of revenue in the Middle East alone (2009). What, however, are the implications of such a small percentage of the company's global revenue on "Israel's" economy? Nestle owns 50.1% of the "Israeli" food company ‘Osem'. The repercussions of these food companies in the "Israeli" economy have been highly prosperous.

In 1998, "Israeli" Prime Minister Netanyahu awarded Peter Brabeck Letmathe, on behalf of Nestle, the Jubilee Award. This is the most prominent tribute awarded by the state of "Israel", in recognition of individuals and organisations that have contributed largely to the consolidation of the "Israeli" economy.

When asked about its investments in "Israel", Nestlé explained to Moqawama.org that "As with most countries around the world Nestle products are available in "Israel"." No further information was provided, nor were we notified of the shares Nestlé has, or the programs it funds, but the nature of the enquiry was questioned.

Nestle owns a large array of brands, few of which include KIT KAT, QUALITY STREET, NIDO, CERELAC, NESCAFÉ, COFFEE MATE, MAGGI, NESTLÉ PURE LIFE, NESTLÉ FITNESS, and NAN.


Thus while one is indulging in the food products provided around the world by Nestlé, "Israel" indulges in the economic growth provided as a repercussion of our consumption. With such a large proportion of the "Israeli" economy invested in military and arms, one is then made to question how many innocent Palestinian civilians have suffered on account of satisfying our appetites.

Source: moqawama.org

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