Muslim Americans in Face-Off with Cosmetic Giant

Some of America's most vocal and active Muslims organizations have called for a boycott of cosmetics giant Este Lauder for what they say is one company board member's extremist pro-Israel political activism.

Prompted by the appearance of Este Lauder Board Member Ronald Lauder at a "One Jerusalem Rally" in January, four prominent Muslim American organizations announced the boycott call today at a news conference in Washington.

Lauder is the son of company founder Este Lauder.

Organizers of the rally claim Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel, saying the state of Israel "has upheld its moral and ethical obligations to the people of the world and has earned the right to retain sovereignty over all of Jerusalem".

American Muslims for Jerusalem Executive Director Khalid Turaani said they were alerted to Lauder's activities after he was publicly admonished by other Jewish American organizations for his participation in the event.

Members of his own organization, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, criticized him for his appearance, even though Lauder said he was attending as a private citizen.

The executive director of Mercaz USA, Rabbi Rober Golub, said Lauder's actions were embarrassing.

"The conference should not have been involved in what was a pointedly political rally designed to embarrass the government and oppose the current prime minister," said Golub in a January interview with the Jerusalem Post.

Este Lauder spokespeople declined repeated requests for an interview.

Malcolm I. Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the conference of presidents told the New York Times he expected the boycott to fail and could even backfire by inviting such actions against companies owned by Muslim Americans.

"To try and import the Middle East conflict here is absurd," he told the New York paper.

But Turaani disputes Hoenlein's claims.

"We didn't begin with failure in mind," he said. "There's a lot of passion in the Arab and Muslim world to stop (Israel's) seize and starvation campaign."

Last year, Europe, the Middle East and Africa represented 26 percent of Este Lauder net sales. The Asia/Pacific region represented additional 13 percent of net sales.

Turaani hinted at enlisting help from some other major organizations, such as the Arab League, which became involved in the current boycott of Burger King for its establishment of a restaurant in an illegal Jewish settlement in the Occupied Territories.

According to company statistics, Este Lauder controls nearly 50 percent of the makeup market in the U.S. The company's products are sold in more than 120 countries and territories under brand names such as Este Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives, Origins, MAC, La Mer, Bobbi Brown essentials, Tommy Hilfiger, jane, Donna Karan, Aveda, Stila, Jo Malone and Bumble and bumble.

AMJ's campaign is also backed by the American Muslim Council, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Turaani says AMJ led a successful boycott against the Disney Company when their millennium display at a theme park marked Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Disney immediately removed all references to Jerusalem as the capital.