Folks In Uptight City Languish In The Sharia Soup

Certification of products by Islamic society prompts boycott of Campbell's foods

Camden, New Jersey – Campbell Soup Company is fighting a grassroots boycott of it products.

The company's Canadian division chose the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to certify its line of halal soups. Halal means foods have been prepared according to Islamic dietary laws dictated by the concept of sharia.

The products are available only in Canada.

The problem is that ISNA was alleged to have ties to the Islamic fundamentalist organization Hamas when federal prosecutors came down on the Plainfield, Indiana, outfit for sending money to the outfit, which rules in the Gaza Strip, in a 2007 conspiracy case.

Since the products are marketed only in Canada, the blogger who operates “Atlas Shrugs,” Pamela Geller, didn't notice until this month, when she began calling for a boycott of Campbell's products.

She is noted for raising consciousness about a proposed Islamic Center to be located in an older building two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan. It is the location of an existing mosque.

“No one is suggesting they refrain from this line. No one is suggesting they not have halal food. I'm not against halal food any more than I'm against kosher food. My issue is who's doing the certifying,” she told an interviewer with “The Washington Post.”

ISNA denies any affiliation with Hamas or with the charity known as the Holy Land Foundation, which was convicted in the conspiracy case.

The ISNA also denies any ties with The Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist organization founded in Cairo in the 1920's. It is not on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.

Mr. John Faulkner, a spokesman for the Campbell Company, said that the ISNA was referred to the food producer by a Canadian trade group. The company has no plans to offer the halal soups to the American market.

He added that after a thorough investigation, his company found “no areas of concern” regarding ISNA.

Mr. Faulkner did remind readers that Campbell Soup Co. set up a tent near Ground Zero and for two weeks after the 9/11 attack fed rescue workers and newsmen free of charge.

So far, the multinational corporation has noticed no negative impact caused by the blog's boycott, he said.