Prince Charles, the Hamburger, and Arab-Israeli Politics

It could have been the Hamburger Heard Round the World. Prince Charles, an avid proponent of organic farming, has been touring the Middle East, visiting the largest mosque in Kuwait and Qatar's new museum of Islamic art, and most recently learning about the major problems with diabetes that the UAE is suffering, as he toured a diabetes center and learned about efforts to improve diet and fitness in the country. Speaking about nutrition, he said, according to the BBC, "Have you got anywhere with McDonald's, have you tried getting it banned? That's the key." McDonald's representatives expressed concern over the remarks. The trip was billed as "reinforcing Britain's friendship with key allies," according to the BBC, but the remark was not considered in that context.

Several years ago in Israel, according to reports in Arab media, a highly regarded employee of a McDonald's in central Israel was fired - for speaking Arabic. Reports said that it was against McDonald's policy for employees to speak or converse in Arabic while on the job, and the employee took an order in Arabic. According to the reports, avoiding doing business in Arabic has been an Israeli strategy which McDonald's was the first major company to support (and thus validate), supposedly to avoid "misunderstandings."

Other Arab media reports indicate that McDonald's ranks high on the list of supporters of a Jewish lobbying organization, but on the other side, it was noted that McDonald's, unlike Burger King, apparently has refused to build restaurants in the West Bank "occupied territory." McDonald's was also hit by Arab boycotts of American businesses, having been seen as an American icon. Even though the owner of a Saudi Arabian McDonald's was actually an Arab, the restaurant was gutted by an arsonist in 2002, according to the BBC which attributed it to a Palestinian sympathizer.