Burger King Amidst a Whopper of a Conflict

Perhaps no other area in the world is as volatile as the Middle East. The ongoing Palestinian/Israeli conflict is a never ending drama of war, violence, and bloodshed, with an infinite supply of dead end peace initiatives. The small area has witnessed historical, religious, and territorial transgressions that date back centuries upon centuries. In a land that is the center of three monotheistic world religions, it is doubtless whether the Palestinian/Israeli conflict will enter the coming century in peace.

And if matters weren't tense enough as is, the Burger King Corporation ventured onto troubled territory.

In June, the home of the whopper, made a new home in the West Bank, albeit on stolen land. The restaurant opened a chain in the Ma'ale Adumim settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which is five miles east of Jerusalem's Old City. The Ma'ale Adumim settlement is located within the territory annexed into Greater Jerusalem after the city was occupied in 1967. Since the establishment of the Burger King chain on this settlement, American Muslims, particularly American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), have been protesting the restaurant, which is built on land that is internationally recognized as being under military occupation. According to AMJ, the Ma'ale Adumim settlement is one of among a number of settlement projects that the Israelis have constructed to encircle the city in an attempt to cut if off from the West Bank.

Since the establishment of the Burger King chain on the settlement, a number of American Muslims contacted Burger King to protest the restaurant. Burger King released a statement saying they were ``sensitive to all nationalities, religions and cultures,' but that they would not become involved in a ``political debate'. Khalid Turaani, executive director of AMJ, was not satisfied with Burger King's remarks. In response to Burger King's statement, Turaani said that the chain missed the main principle of the issue which was not simply about becoming involved in a ``political debate'. The establishment of a Burger King restaurant on the settlement was ``becoming a party to the process of occupying stolen land'. Turaani cited Burger King's insensitivity for the over three million Palestinian refugees who were displaced from their homes and forced to live in poor conditions.

The territory in which the Ma'ale Adumim settlement is built is recognized by the United Nations as occupied land. In a July 7 letter to the Burger King Corporation, AMJ pointed out that the Ma'ale Adumim settlement is illegal under international law, saying ``The Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel and the United States are signatories, stipulates in Article 49 paragraph 6, `The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.' '

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