About the Danish, not Security

A (sometimes)photoblog editorial statement on the current debate on the transfer of Port management to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates. Pickle, my cat, was happy to join in the photo session.

It's not about Port security, it's about the Danish!

The United Arab Emirates is boycotting products made in Denmark. The Sharjah Municipality, a local UAE government entity, officially endorsed the voluntary boycott of Danish products in response to the cartoon controversy earlier this year. This was the first government endorsement of the voluntary consumer boycott in the region.

Do I trust a company that lets a cartoon influence economic matters. What's next? Everyday in Western media someone is trying to push the limits of free speech through poor taste or lack of tact. Will the company managing our ports remain neutral in future free speech debates or will they disrupt shipments of Legos to the U.S?

An ensueing Lego shortage could be accomplished with a simple "unload the danish freighter last" directive from the UAE. Any disruption in a supply chain can cost a company or a nation millions in terms of lost sales or missed delivery targets.

Port control means more than security, it also means the power to influence global commerce.

A French big box retailer has joined the boycott of danish goods. What if the United Arab Emirates were able to influence the timely delivery of goods to Wal-Mart in response to a cultural misunderstanding? It's just a matter of time before the Western media once again offends the muslim culture with a new act of poor taste. Next week, next month, next year? Cartoons happen.

The United Arab Emirates offically endorsed the boycott of Danish goods and they managed to scare the French of all people. That economic power is being exercised over a cartoon of all things. One would hope that mature matters of international commerce could not disrupted by such childish drawings.

Is too much to ask of a global economy player like the UAE who wants to manage US ports to cease their childish boycott of Danish goods? If you boycott over cartoons as a business practice, it does make one wonder about the rest of your management abilities.

The boycott of Danish goods extends right into Wisconsion. One of the Danish companies affected by the boycott has assets in the U.S. All a part of the global economy; the same global economy that should not be disrupted because some cultures can't come to grips with a tasteless cartoon after months of protests.

What did the people of the White Clover Dairy do? All they did was try to participate in the global economy and for their trouble, their products will be officially boycotted by the UAE over a cartoon.

It's not about Port security, it's about the Danish!

Additional news articles:
Khaleej Times Online | DCCI would join boycott action
BBC News | Consumer boycotts sweep Middle-East

Blog/website sources:
Buy Danish (blog)
Buy Danish (website and links)
Buy Danish Products (website with blog)