Egyptian Cleric Hazem Abu Ismail Calls to Boycott PEPSI: Name Stands for "Pay Every Penny to Save Israel"

Following are excerpts from an address by Egyptian cleric Hazem Abu Ismail, which aired on Al-Nas TV on February 16, 2009.

Hazem Abu Ismail: Do you know what the word "Pepsi" means? Pepsi as in P-E-P-S-I. The first P stands for "Pay." E stands for "Every." The third letter stands for "Penny." A penny means any small coin you receive and don't know what to do with. Pay it to "Saving" I – "Israel." In other words, pay every small coin you receive in order to save Israel. They don't want money from you – they want your small change, your pennies. If I'm not mistaken, in American economics, a penny is one-thousandth of the dollar. It's not even worth a piaster. It's only a millime. At least I think it's worth a millime, not even a piaster.

They say: "Donate the small change you don't need, but give it to the right cause. If you collect small change, you can buy this drink." They took the first letter of each word – "Pay Every Penny Saving Israel" – and they formed the word "Pepsi." When you pay [to buy Pepsi], you are saving Israel. I am not talking about Pepsi, but about Coca Cola and all of them. I don't want to specify the products. See for yourselves. You are Muslims. You can tell me. I don't know. My little son knows more about the boycott than me. When we go shopping, he says to me: "Buy this, don't buy that." He knows them by heart. He has become an expert in this.