Family Sues Coca-Cola Over Assets Once Seized by Egypt’s Anti-Jewish Campaign
- Posted on November 15, 2011 at 1:30pm by
Sharona Schwartz
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Palestinians frequently lament the plight of their refugees, and a main component of peace negotiations has been how to solve the problem of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled the 1948 Arab-Israeli war plus their approximately 4 million descendants living as “refugees” in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza.
Rarely spoken of are the estimated 800,000 Jews forced to flee their homes in the Muslim world during the Arab-Israeli armed conflicts between 1948 and the early 1970s.
This Thursday, one case bringing light to the issue will be argued in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City between a Jewish family once bullied into emigrating from Egypt and the Coca-Cola Company which later bought part of a company sitting on the Jewish family’s property. The property had years before been seized by the Egyptian government during an anti-Jewish campaign.
The case provides a stark reminder of the plight of the Jewish exiles then and the lasting impact decades later of a government’s theft of private property. With the persecution of Egypt’s Christians a troubling characteristic of the “Arab Spring,” it’s also a reminder that bias against minorities has deep roots in Egypt and the Arab world.
This Blaze reporter examined more than 100 pages of court documents to prepare this article. Here is the story.
The family’s saga
The Bigio family says grandfather Raphael Nessim Bigio purchased a plot of land in the Heliopolis suburb of Cairo back in 1929, building up his business.
Grandfather Raphael Nessim Bigio (family photo)
In the early 1940s, Coca-Cola’s local subsidiary began leasing space from the Bigios and established its first Egyptian soda plant there. For 20 years they had business relations; the Bigios supplied bottle caps and other goods to the company until the Egyptian government suddenly seized the Bigios’ property.
This expropriation was part of the grander scheme by then dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser to implement “Arab socialism,” which included confiscating or “nationalizing” private property for the benefit of the government. The campaign also had an anti-Jewish slant and for some Jews included detention, deprivation of Egyptian citizenship and expulsion. The message was heard loud and clear. In November 1956, there were 45,000 Jews in Egypt. In less than a year, more than half had left.
Arab socialism hit the Bigio family hard. The family contends that Egypt “nationalized” their assets in the early 1960s, seizing two acres, taking it away from them and giving it to government owned entities, the El Nasr Bottling Company (ENBC) whose factories sat on the property, and the Misr Insurance Company which administered the property and leased it to ENBC.
Josias Bigio (family photo)
After his property was taken from him and he was stripped of his citizenship, Raphael’s son Josias Bigio left Egypt as a stateless person.
Years later, a new government in Egypt tried to make amends for some of the past actions, and the family says that in 1979 the Ministry of Finance ordered that the property be returned to the Bigios who were by then living in Canada. But according to the family, Misr Insurance refused to comply with the directive to return the property.
In 1993, when Egypt announced it would sell off some government businesses, the Bigios say they learned Coca-Cola was interested in purchasing the government bottling company ENBC. The Bigios say they reminded Coca-Cola that they owned the land and the factories ENBC was sitting on. The family contends Coca-Cola’s counsel agreed to meet the Bigios in Atlanta where the soda maker is based, but before that meeting took place, Coca-Cola purchased 42% of ENBC.
Because Coca-Cola had been doing business in Cairo with the family since the 1940s, the Bigios assert the soda company had witnessed what they term the “ethnic cleansing” taking place in Egypt and the persecution of their family and that the corporation knew exactly how ENBC came in possession of the property.
The Bigios’ brief to the court says Coca-Cola purchased property it knew Egypt had confiscated but bought a large chunk of it anyway, comparing the morality of it to purchasing artwork looted from Jews during the Nazi era. Their brief says that Coca-Cola:
“…has occupied and exploited the Bigios’ properties for profits that range in the hundreds of millions of dollars while refusing to compensate the Bigios as much as one penny.”
The family is asking for “compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial and punitive damages.” According to its estimates, the value of the property that was taken likely exceeds $50 million. The Bigios’ attorney Nathan Lewin tells The Blaze, “If Coca-Cola is required to disgorge the profits it has made by exploiting the Bigios’ property, damages could be in the hundreds of millions.”
Part of the property at stake (family photo)
Coca-Cola’s argument
Coca-Cola says the Bigio family is targeting the wrong defendant. Communications Director Ann L. Moore e-mailed The Blaze this statement:
“The Coca-Cola Company has never owned the property at issue in the litigation. Misr, an Egyptian state-owned insurance company, owns the property. This dispute is between Misr and the Bigios. The Coca-Cola Company should not be a party in this suit.”
In its brief to the court, Coca-Cola says Nasser’s nationalization laws impacted not only Jews but also Coptic Christians, Muslim Arabs, Greeks and Italians. Coca-Cola says it’s not responsible, because Misr insurance got the Bigios’ land from the government, the Egyptian bottling company ENBC rents it, and Coca-Cola is only a 42% shareholder in ENBC. In its brief, Coca-Cola says:
“A purchase is a purchase, not a conspiracy. Holding shares in a company is an investment, not aiding and abetting … ‘Spin’ and rhetoric do not replace law and or factual allegations. The plaintiffs do not claim the defendants had any involvement in or responsibility for the nationalization, which is what harmed them.”
Coke says purchasing 42% of ENBC was a “lawful public transaction.” It says it did not steal the ENBC shares but purchased them “for a considerable amount of money.” It also contends the Bigios did not establish that they were indeed the owners or that “nationalization of the property was wrongful under Egyptian or other law.”
This week’s battle
Coca-Cola’s argument suggests the Bigios should have sued the Egyptian entities, not the American corporation. Because of continued anti-Jewish sentiment, the Bigios believe they cannot get a fair hearing in an Egyptian court. With Coca-Cola based in Atlanta, they turned to the U.S. justice system in 1997. Despite two prior appeals, the family has yet to convince the judges to rule conclusively in their favor.
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) filed a friend-of-the-court brief for the Bigios in their 2005 appeal and called for a boycott of Coca-Cola. It, too, thought Egypt is not the right legal venue “because hatred of Jews is deeply ingrained in Egyptian society.” In a previous decision, the Court of Appeals agreed that the choice of a U.S. court over one in Egypt was “eminently reasonable.” In 2008, the ZOA wrote:
“First the company refuses to acknowledge that it is profiting from stolen property, and now it reneges on its promise to engage in good faith settlement discussions with the Bigios. What will it take for Coke to do the right thing?”
The Arab Spring’s minorities
It will be for the appeals court to decide if it agrees with the Bigios or Coca-Cola. Meanwhile, this 21st century case is a reminder history often repeats itself.
Nasser is long gone as dictator but the jury is still out on what kind of regime will take hold in Egypt. With the Arab Spring being played out and Coptic Christians fleeing in droves – some prosperous business owners themselves – there is a new reminder that like the Bigios, minorities can never rest easy in the Middle East.
As Egypt once again faces tumult, this window on history reflects the vigilance required in defending minority rights and protecting from government encroachment on private property. The Bigios’ experience teaches that freedom and property are challenging to obtain, but they’re almost impossible to get back once lost.
One judge already fined Coca-Cola $15,725 for failing to respond to Bigio attorney discovery requests for information, according to family lawyers. The Bigios contend this is just one example of the corporation’s 14-year effort to “extend this litigation endlessly” raising multiple technicalities with the hopes the Bigios will drop the case from sheer exhaustion.
Whether the judges rule Coca-Cola has to compensate or not, it would be heartening to see the corporation use its influence in Egypt and with its business partners who own the remaining 58% of ENBC to help the Bigios find some long-overdue justice.
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Comments (53)
kyrealtor
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 4:58pm48 borders… That includes Old Jerusalem. After the Arab Brigade, under the command of British Commanders, sacked Jerusalem, all Jews were forcibly evicted. All of their property was stolen. All of the Synagogues were burned. I am willing to accept the unification of Jerusalem with no one baned based on their religion as a starting point for actual peace negotitiations. As to Coke, consider that some people aware of your treachery can decisde on Coke vs Pepsi vs Sam’s Cola for entire organizations and corporations.
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 9:45pmYou need to start your history when Islam invaded in the 7th century, at that point the Jews had already been there for thousands of years, the Christians for over 600 years. Note where the conquering Muslims put their mosque, right on top of the holiest site to the Jews, a direct insult, no different except being much worse, than a gang of thugs putting their graffiti over a rival gang’s graffiti. The Muslims are interlopers and need to be removed entirely from the area, the mosque removed as well. This would help Jews and Christians worldwide. Islam must be repelled in Israel and in the West.
Report Post »wopette
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 12:14pmSmackdown is only one of two things..Your average mentally atrophied leftist, or a Muslim troll who feeds this Palestinian drivel to those same average mentally atrophied leftists who takes what a Muslim would tell them as gospel…Leftists can’t think for themselves, hence their need to have the government do it for them.
And do tell Smackdown, why are you so outraged that this tiny Jewish state is designated for Jews? While seemingly having no problem with the fact that Saudi Arabia’s Mecca is ONLY for Muslims? Care to touch on your hypocrisy here? Why can Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Pakistan, etc, etc, etc, all be known as Muslim lands but you get your panties completely wadded over 1 small Jewish state?
I await your answer…
Report Post »airportengineer
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:32amWelcome to Obama and Bush’s NEW WORLD ORDER! Hitler’s dream child!
Report Post »Faith in God
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:04amCoke had dealing with family, witnessed the family being thrown out. and kept doing business with the criminals? yeah, sue coke. let the world know what is going on. They should sue Egypt also, but won’t get anywhere with them.
Report Post »SageInWaiting
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 9:11amWhat is good for the collective…
Report Post »RLJMAH
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 7:20amHere is the bottom line….Yes it is sad that the people have been stripped of their legal property, no Coca Cola does not owe them anything, Yes the Egyptian gov’t does owe them, the profits they made on the illegal deal with Coca Cola, and the land of Israel belonged to the Jews long before there was anyone even calling themselves a Palestinian. Study your history……Almighty God promised the land to the Jews, and gave it to them. Aided the the Jews in conquering the Philistines (where you get the Palestinians) and did it because it was His to give……End of story….
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 12:02amAnd both IBM and Bayer helped the Nazis kill Jews. IBM ran the punch cards that located French Jews and Bayer used Jewish slave labor in its plants.
Even though those who perpetrated this wrong are long dead, I refuse to buy IBM or Bayer until the companies ask for forgiveness of their participation in war crimes.
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:04pmSo, they’re suing Coca Cola…NOT Egypt…but the soda company?
Wow, this is really helping people’s stereotyped perceptions of jews…
Report Post »living1nBF3
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 7:59pmCoke knew what was going on. You don’t buy a property without knowing the history of that property.
IMP,Coke should pay the millions they screwed the original landowners out of.
In reality, Coke won’t pay squat.
But the lawyers will make a buttload!
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 8:05pmWhy should Coke pay and not the Egyptian Government??
Report Post »gmoneytx
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:57pmSmells like a coffee and McDonalds lawsuit…good luck!
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 5:38pmsue them.
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:19pmCoca-Cola pushes a NWO agenda. Boycott! I stand with Israel and the Jews!
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:35pmAmericans have done the same thing here in the US. How many Mormons were forced to flee from Missouri and other states? Who now owns the properties they used to own? They were never compensated, they were forced to leave. This family has no chance to get reparations since it is/was the Egyptian government who did the stealing.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:15pmSorry but this lawsuit is idiotic. The family should be directing their anger at the Egyptian “government”. Coke did not steal their property, and they will at some point have the property seized from them as well.
Report Post »Melvin Spittle
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:06pm@smackdown33 your racist hate is palpable.
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:38pmMelvin, argue the facts. Don’t spittle all over yourself. Please correct any mistakes that I’ve written. Dispel my conclusions with facts of your own. Be objective.
Report Post »If you can not, then please keep your spittle to yourself.
2malamutes
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:58pmI do feel sorry for these people. But I don’t see how this problem is one for a American court to decide. It would be like an American Indian emigrating to France and then suing one of Frances companies to get the land back that the American government took, or any people throughout history that have been displaced by a invading people of or sovereign government. The court system that should be trying the case, if they would hear it, is the court system in Egypt.
Report Post »ValiantDefender
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:13pmWhy does it take a court for people to be moral. If you had the clout of the Coca-Cola company behind you and knew that a land owner had been stripped of property (that you had previously used with that land owner) and exiled just for their Race or Religion, why wouldn’t you tell ENBC to either give the land back, or lose the deal?
Coke has a long history of not caring who they are dealing with. The $$ is mightier than the soul, to them…
Report Post »JRook
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:18pmLogically if one were to accept and be empathetic with the plaintiffs and agree that Egypt took their land through authority or force and should return it….Then you must agree that Israel should return all land taken during the 1967 conflict. The context or method by which land was taken should not matter in your determination. And certainly not your beliefs or feelings about who took the land and whom it was taken from.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:38pmValiant-
Report Post »They can’t direct ENBC to do anything, they do not hold majority shares. They have and investment. How many stocks do you hold that support dubious companies? If you have mutual funds, I bet a lot of them are less than moral.
flik221
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:57pmdrink PEPSI, that‘ll learn ’em
Report Post »flik221
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:55pmdrink PEPSI, that‘ll show ’em
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:39pmI am not sure if Coca Cola is to blame in this situation. But
I would think they could and should have negotiated on their
(the family”s) behalf if it was known.
Poor People, that was horrible what happened to them.
Report Post »May God be with them and help them.
Bonnieblue2A
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:28pmGreat story we won’t see covered anywhere else!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:15pmIf Egypt & the other Arab countries give the land & money wrongfully seized from Jews after 1948 to the Palestinians as compensation. Likewise the Jews could get the land the Palestinians fled from.
It wouldn’t be exact but it would be ballpark & we could consider it done. If not, we could have WW8. Yes it is number 8, it is all in definitions.
Report Post »rkstamm
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:52pmNow, see… If it was polar bears and not Jews ousted from the property…
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:05pmThis is just another waa waa, poor me I’m a Jewish victim, article. Written by, none other than, a Jew named Schwartz. They are a well organized bunch of perpetual whiners, for profit. As Norman Finkelstein said, it’s a cottage industry; paraphrasing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIW5h3J2a1U
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:09pmEveryone named Schwartz is Jewish? Your full if yourself.
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:13pmNot in Australia.
Report Post »HumbleCitizen
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:38pmConfiscating private property and giving it to the government is already here. Imminent domain can take property from citizens and give it to the US gov’t for no reason at all. This administration, along with past administrations (that laid the groundwork), is working fevorishly to implement the same socialism here in the USA. Tyranny as “regulations” has arrived. In addition, the US is experiencing Increased hostilities against Jews and Christians, the very foundation of this country and the backbone of the constitution.
It’s coming folks.
Report Post »True American66
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:38pmThis is where Coca-Cola should have made a stand BACK IN THE 1960s. They should have refused to profit off of the blatant theft of the Bijo’s land and business. I am ALL for capitalism, but at what point do individual AMERICAN businessmen & women hold to some sort of INTEGRITY? Is Coca-Cola‘s need to profit off of the Egyptians so important that they overlook the inhumanity of it’s nation? Shame on you Coca-Cola!
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:37pmSo you can’t even rent property on land that was once stolen from someone?
I feel for these people. I really do. The egyptian government did a horrible thing. It was unfair and wrong. When MISR wouldn’t give back the property as it was ordered to do… that was also a horrible thing. Both of these entities should pay handsomely for these wrongs. And I also agree that they most certainly would not get justice in an Egyptian court. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean Coca Cola owes them any money.
If I buy shares in CorpX and they open up plant somewhere and, due to unsafe working conditions, end up killing hundreds of people directly because of their negligence…. it’s absolutely ludicrous to think someone could come sue me. EVEN IF I BUY STOCKS AFTER THE FACT AND I’M WELL AWARE OF THE EVENT.
They need to sue MISR but they can’t. It’s a shame… it really is. A huge injustice. But filing frivolous lawsuits in the US against corporations that weren’t involved in this travesty is not the answer.
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 5:29pmDrFrost, surely you feel the same passion for the Palestinians who have suffered the same fate, at the hands of the Zionists. Intellectual honesty would demand no less.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 6:12pmIf you can show me evidence that these people were terrorists or linked with terrorists… If you can show me where their religion calls for the extermination of the Egyptian “dogs”… If you can show me evidence of them raising their children to hate and despise the Egyptians… If you can show me a long history of jewish-on-egyptian violence in the region prior to their property being seized… If you can show me where, allowed to elect their own government, they elected a terrorist organization into power… If you can show me how they practiced honor killings… If you can show me where their religion teaches that it’s ok to lie to and kill nonbelievers… If you show me how they kill those who convert away from their religion….
The palestinian situation is not even remotely the same. Islam is far more than a religious system, it is a political and legal system as well. It is a threat to every country with a sizeable muslim population which is not already under sharia law and this has been demonstrated numerous times in recent history.
Israel is defending herself. Egypt was in no danger from egyptian jews in the 1960′s. If you can‘t understand the differences involved here then I suggest you are being deliberately blind to the obvious and that it’s not my intellectual honesty that needs to be questioned.
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:29pmMuslin and Ayran States and their hatred for all other religions other then their own, but especially Jews. History repeats itself!
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:57pmIsrael‘s Zionist state is today’s Third Reich. They demand an ethnically pure state. They call their state, “The Jewish State.” They are confiscating Palestinian land. They are placing Palestinians into ghettos. They are walling off these ghettos. They make Palestinians carry proof that they are non-Jews. They print different license plates for non-Jew vehicles. Non-Jews are not permitted to use the same roads as Jews. Non-Jews must go through checkpoints, Jews do not.
Report Post »Is there something missing here, other than a reasonable brain?
Walkabout
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:11pmsmackdown33
You’re so pathetic. If Israel was like NATSI Germany, the Palestinians would already be dead. Put down the talking points and read additional news sources & meet some more people. You need to broaden your horizons (That is not be so bigoted).
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:15pmIs this pathetic to any reasonable person?
Report Post »http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
OneTermPresident
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:55pm@SMACKDOWN33… And a Demitasse would fit your RACIST head like a sombrero.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 3:59pm@SMACKDOWN
1) The nazi comparison is neither appropriate nor accurate. It only betrays your lack of integrity.
2) You’re telling half truths and half facts. Anyone who has studied this situation realizes this but I suppose you’re hoping to sway those who are undereducated on the matter…. I suggest anyone read “A Case for Israel” who wants a more complete and accurate summary of whats been going on in that region and decide for themselves.
3) Pick any country that’s been taken over by muslins in the last 50 years and go ask the jews and christians who lived there how they were treated afterwards. It‘s not even like the muslims try and hide what they’ll do as soon as they take over.
Israel is defending herself, as she has every right to do.
Report Post »Melvin Spittle
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:13pm@smackdown33 you are a disgustingly pathetic & racist troll. Israel is surrounded by nations that want to destroy them. Tell me brainiac, how many Muslims are there in Israel? Of that number, how many have successful businesses? Now I will ask you to compare that with the number of successful Jewish businesses in ANY Muslim country. You are talking out your third point of contact, idiot.
Report Post »Melvin Spittle
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:18pmOneTermPresident
“@SMACKDOWN33… And a Demitasse would fit your RACIST head like a sombrero.”
Nice, but you are giving him too much credit. SMACKDOWN33′s comments are a manifestation of the battle in his head of his last two viable brain cells fighting for survival.
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 5:02pmDrFrost, I have read Alan Dershowitz’s book, “A Case for Israel.” As you know, Alan has been the Harvard mouthpiece ridiculing and demeaning anything, and anyone, critical of the Zionist state of Israel. He and Norman Finkelstein had a debate regarding this book, and Norman’s style and factual base is much better than anything that I could write here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dershowitz%E2%80%93Finkelstein_affair
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 5:26pmMelvin my good man, mine is a pocillo. You should know better. Now skedaddle you spittle.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 5:58pm@SMACKDOWN
If you’re going to label Dershowitz as such then you must be fair and label Finkelstein as an extreme anti-Zionist. He’s certainly earned that title. Not doing so, again, demonstrates a lack of full disclosure. But if people want to read Finkelsteins book, that’s fine. Just be sure to read Dershowitz’s further response in… The Case for Peace. (It‘s not like they aren’t already exposed to that side of the story from the MSM.)
On a side note, I’ve read some of Finkelsteins work and, to be honest, I don’t buy it. It certainly fits in with the PC crowd and the MSM but it doesn’t mesh with anything else. Look at the human rights records of muslim countries with regards to women, jews and non-muslims in general. Look at what the muslims in Lebanon did after they took power. Look at what’s happening to the coptic christians in Egypt now. Ask Lara Logan how the muslim men in Egypt treated her. I could go on ad infinitum but just read the daily news. Libya and Egypt make my point for me and I suspect it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.
Finkelstein would have Israel lay down and be consumed by these people. You may not agree with Dershowitz but to agree with Finkelstein is to deny Israel’s right to exist. If that‘s where you’re coming from then we’re not ever going to agree on this topic.
Report Post »Eraldo NY Tea Party
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:16pmPlease Lord Jesus bless us all.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 2:13pmNationalsim, thereby Nationalization, is a War upon a perceived Evil, and ususally Non Conformity! As a result of the War, there is a Winner who is entitled to the Spoils. Hence, Egypt belongs to Egypt… and All of Israel belongs to Israel. Problem Solved!
Report Post »OneTermPresident
Posted on November 15, 2011 at 4:03pmI agree.. you don’t see the British demanding the 13 colonies back.
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 2:45pmThere is no nation entitled to the spoils of war-that’s right-legally and morally. hence israel should return to it’s 1948 legal borders. The land seized after the 67 war is a spoil of that war and illigal and unethical. That european zionists now live in arab homes and lands at the same time displaced jews are suing cococola for thier displacement from egypt is more hypocrisy.
Report Post »