At a time when Lebanon is boiling over with calls to boycott American products, the Coca Cola Company has planted cedar trees in Jezzine in a move perceived by environmentalists and boycott activists alike as an attempt at image-building.
On Friday the multinational inaugurated a small cedar forest that it called CedaRoots on the highest hill of the formerly occupied village. Some 150 trees have been planted so far, and 350 more will be cultivated by September 2004.
The 1,780-meter-high former Israeli outpost had to be cleared of over 500 mines before work on the forest could begin.
The saplings were given professional care from Exotica horticulturists, who established an irrigation system and soil with appropriate characteristics.
The Coca Cola press release and the company’s public affairs manager, Antoine Tayyar, asserted that CedaRoots was the first cedar forest in South Lebanon. However, former Jezzine MP Edmond Rizk begged to differ, telling The Daily Star that the municipality of Rihan, located right next to Jezzine, planted some 2,000 cedar trees a year ago.
Rizk expressed anger over the fact that Coca Cola gained the attention and support of officials like Jezzine’s mayor, Said Abu Aql, and Environment Minister Michel Musa, while urgent issues like works on the Sidon-Jezzine road continue to be neglected.
“The road from Sidon to Jezzine is unfit, people avoid going to the village because of it, and environmentally, quarries continue to eat up the mountains and existing forests are not protected,” Rizk complained.
Moreover, boycott activists and environmentalists accused multinationals like Coca Cola of indulging in community work only to divert the public’s attention from their alleged backing of Israel and producing large amounts of waste.
“It’s ironic to plant cedars here and also support the uprooting of trees in Palestine,” mused Kirsten Idriss, a boycott activist. “On its Hebrew website, Coca Cola announced several weeks ago a special sale, the proceeds of which will go to the Israeli Army.”
Idriss said that Coca Cola supported Israel at times against its own economic interests as the company only entered the Arab market after the 1993 Oslo Accords.
But Tayyar insisted that his company engages in community activities because it believes that corporations have a responsibility to the communities in their host countries.
“We’re not doing this to get anything in return,” Tayyar said.

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