I don’t know how many of my friends around the Gulf received this alert from Greenpeace, however, here it is for the use of everyone:

From: Hussein Fakih [hfakih@diala.greenpeace.org]
Date: Feb 4, 2007 10:20 PM
Subject: Greenpeace: opinion poll
To: [haitham.sabbah@gmail.com]

Dear Mr Haitham Sabbah,

I am an activist in Greenpeace (the international environmental independent organization). Greenpeace have recently discovered that some of the products that are now in the markets in Qatar Kuwait and the UAE are contaminated with Genetic engineered organisms. And in parallel with our work with the authorities there, we are currently conducting a web survey on Genetic Engineering for people in Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE. It would be great if you can take a minute of your time to fill out the survey at http://www.greenpeace.org.lb and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.

In case you have any question please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best regards and i hope i am not disturbing you.

Hussein Fakih,
Greenpeace Internet communications:
Website:http://www.greenpeace.org.lb
Weblog:http://weblog.greenpeace.org/diwan/

عزيزي هيثم الصباح،

أنا ناشط في منظمة السلام الأخضر العالمية (غرينبيس وهي منظمة بيئية عالمية مستقلة) وقد اكتشفنا مؤخرا وجود مواد ملوثة بالكائنات المهندسة الجينية في اسواق كل من الامارات والكويت وقطر. وبموازة عملنا مع السلطات المختصة نسعى الى استطلاع رأي سكان الامارات والكويت وقطر حول موضوع الهندسة الوراثية. لذا نرجو ان نأخذ من وقتك أقل من دقيقة لاستطلاع رأيك حول هذا الموضوع. يمكنك ان تجد رابط صفحة الاستطلاع على عنوان مدونة منظمة الوارد اعلاه او على موقع المنظمة باللغة العربية (http://www.greenpeace.org.lb) اذا احتجت اي معلومات اضافية فلا تردد بالاتصال بي على عنواني البريدي.

مع جزيل الشكر,
حسين فقيه
غرينبيس

Sounds scary, I know. While I personally don’t prefer any Genetic engineered food, some still says that it is safe! (Read Ziad comments following one of my posts around two years ago).

On the other hand, I’m sure that this goes beyond the three countries mention in the report. In fact, I have at home (living in Bahrain) the same Corn Flour example they are showing, and it doesn’t say anywhere that it is Genetic engineered, and I’m sure that plenty of other Genetic engineered food is around the place, ‘unidentified,’ all around the Middle East.

Are we cheated internally or externally or both? What is the position of our health officials about this type of food? How can they allow to display such food without forcing the supplier to mark it clearly as Genetic engineered? And last but not least, any one with experience who can give us the pros and cons of this myth?