A branch of the US fast-food giant McDonald's in the UAE is denying claims that the company is supplying financial aid to the Israelis, reported the Gulf News on Saturday.
A text message that has been hitting thousands of mobile phones in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the past three weeks began circulating in UAE just two days ago, said the paper.
Sent in English and Arabic, it reads: "McDonald's restaurant will give its Saturday income to occupational authority "Israel" weekly to help them against Palestinians."
Mohsin Sheikh Al Hassan, regional spokesman for McDonald's, hotly denied the allegation and called the rumor "unfounded, hurtful and malicious."
"The text message started about three weeks ago and seems to be doing the rounds of the Gulf. So far there have been no reports of it appearing anywhere else internationally and we are grateful for this.
"Of course it's completely untrue and almost laughable that someone could think that about McDonald's Gulf operations, because not only are 30 percent of the company shareholders worldwide Muslim, but in the UAE it is 100 percent locally owned.
"It would, therefore, be unthinkable for them to entertain the idea of supporting the Israelis."
He said that the originator of the message had not yet been caught.
"We don't know who started this or why, because trying to track down where a text message begins is virtually impossible. All I can think is that it's somebody who thought they were being clever and funny."
He added that the company has not suffered as a result of the rumor.
"Luckily, the SMS has not had an adverse affect on McDonald's business, which means most people don't believe the message.
"However, it is both disturbing and hurtful that it happened at all and, unfortunately, there are bound to be some people who take it seriously," he said – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
