Earlier this year, several supermarkets in the capital stopped selling Danish products to protest against the publication of cartoons vilifying the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper
AMMAN -- Danish products have been flying off the shelves in hypermarkets and shops around the country as a nationwide campaign to boycott the goods wanes.
Officials at Safeway, C- Town, Plaza and other major stores, which led the boycott earlier this year following the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, confirmed they resumed selling the products a few weeks ago.
A Safeway official, who requested anonymity, said sales of the goods "slowly gained the popularity they enjoyed prior to the boycott."
The official attributed Safeway's decision to end the boycott to a religious decree issued by an Islamic scholar.
Smaller outlets have also reintroduced Danish goods to their customers, who "have been showing unusual interest in the products."
"Some customers were curious about the Danish products. It seems the much talked-about issue had a positive result for some items," said Ali Futnassi, 42, a cashier at Balqa supermarket near the University of Jordan.
He said sales of the products jumped by almost 25 per cent compared to the period before the ban.
Jordan was among many Muslim countries that reacted angrily to the publication of the controversial cartoons, which were first published in September by the Jyllands-Posten, and since reappeared in several European publications.
The Danish newspaper published an article on freedom of speech, saying artists were unwilling to depict the Prophet without withholding their identities for fear of retribution from the Muslim world.
The article included 12 depictions of Prophet Mohammad by several Danish cartoonists, one of which portrayed the Prophet Mohammad wearing a turban shaped-like a bomb.
Earlier this year, Islamic scholars called on Muslims to protest against the cartoons by boycotting Danish products until a formal apology was announced.
But to date, Danish officials failed to express their regret over the incidents, claiming they cannot interfere with freedom of expression.
Jordanians took to the streets in protest against the publication of the cartoons and the editors of two weekly tabloids that reprinted them were detained then released on bail pending their trial. They were formally charged with 'defaming prophets in public.'
Some consumers, however, believe the message has got through and the boycott should come to an end.
"I was very angry about the cartoons and I will never accept it at all, but we have conveyed our message loud and clear. I think this should stop," said Ali Abul Rahman, a 49-year-old businessman.
But Deputy Mahmoud Kharabsheh (Balqa First District) believes Jordanians and Muslims should continue with the boycott until the Danish government "apologises clearly."
"Our only weapon is to boycott... They only understand the language of money and that is how we should communicate with them," Kharabsheh told The Jordan Times.
He called on fellow citizens to "be stronger than temptations and persist with the boycott."
In the meantime, a local factory that manufactures dairy products was forced to change its name after its sales plunged in the wake of the cartoon controversy.
The factory, formerly known as the Jordanian Danish Factory for Dairy Products, changed its name to Baladna in a bid to regain a foothold in the market.
But the new name was not the panacea as expected.
"Our sales improved over the past two months after we changed the name, but we are still suffering because many clients are not familiar with the name," an official from the factory's sales department said.
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
© Jordan Times 2006
