This was in the Trib last month, but it caught my eye.
Sephardic groups use Coca-Cola trespass suit to reveal misfortunes of thousands in era of Middle East conflict
“The Egyptian government’s actions were part of a campaign of anti-Semitic discrimination and persecution that caused almost a million Jews in Arab/Islamic countries, like the Bigios, to lose their homes, properties, businesses and livelihoods,” the group said in calling for the Coke boycott.
The Bigios and other Sephardim are the counterparts of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled their homes during the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967. Refael Bigio still has a document designating his mother, Bahia, as a refugee according to the United Nations’ criteria. The plight of displaced Palestinians, many still living in refugee camps in nearby countries as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, is well known. Acknowledging their “right of return” has consistently been a precondition of the Arab powers to negotiating a peace treaty with Israel.
Basically, this family owned a bottling plant and stayed in Egypt until forced to leave in the mid-50’s with little more than 5 lbs. They lost everything. Its not often told, this story. Anyways, Coke started useing part of the bottling plant that the Egyptian government seized, and the family filed a trespass lawsuit. Its an interesting story that everyone should know- its not just Palestinians who had a refugee population…
