User:Redhanker/sandbox/Ziopedia

Starbucks Boycott
There have been calls for boycott of Starbucks stores and products because it has been claimed that Starbucks sends part of its profits to the Israeli military, but such allegations are based on a hoax letter attributed to the President, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz, who is Jewish and supports Israel's right to exist. He is a recipient of several Israeli awards including "The Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award" for "playing a key role in promoting a close alliance between the United States and Israel."

The letter claiming that Schultz had donated money to the Israeli military was actually a satire written by Andrew Winkler, editor of the ziopedia.org website and an Australian Holocaust denier. Winkler has admitted fabricating the document. Starbucks responded to these claims, widely circulated on the internet, stating that "Neither Chairman Howard Schultz nor Starbucks fund or support the Israeli Army. Starbucks is a non-political organization and does not support individual political causes." The protests against Starbucks derived from the Winkler letter were not the first, these reported occurred in June 2002 in Cairo, Dubai and Beirut universities in response to Schultz's criticism of Yasser Arafat.