JERUSALEM – Sometimes it seems a person can't have a simple cup of coffee in the Middle East without making a political statement.

Take Starbucks, the Seattle-based purveyor of coffee, coffee-flavoured beverages and international cool.

The company has been active in the Middle East since 1999, but it faces challenges here unlike those it has encountered in any other corner of the planet, and lately they have taken a strange, even outlandish turn.

The latest Middle Eastern tribulations of Starbucks are merely one example of the political minefield that many North American or European companies must negotiate in what must be among the twitchiest, most disputatious neighbourhoods in the world.

Cue Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi.

Speaking on Egypt's Al-Nas TV in January, the avuncular, grey-bearded imam issued a call for Arabs to boycott Starbucks, which operates a total of 280 coffee shops in nine Arab states, including Egypt.

"We want Starbucks to be shut down throughout the Arab world," declared Higazi.

The reason?

Well, it has to do with the Starbucks logo.

What most people likely see when they inspect the famous green-and-white Starbucks emblem is the likeness of a long-maned mermaid wearing a crown, surrounded by several concentric circles that contain the company's brand name.

But that is not what Higazi sees.

"The girl in the Starbucks logo is Queen Esther," he insisted. "This queen is Queen of the Jews."

And the crown she wears?

"This is the crown of the Kingdom of Persia. This girl you see is Esther, Queen of the Jews in Persia."

The cleric, whose four-minute polemic may be viewed online on YouTube, goes on to summarize the Old Testament story of Esther, a beautiful virgin who is manipulated by her cousin Mordecai to win the heart and hand of the Persian king Ahasuerus (believed to be Xerxes I) without revealing to him that she is a Jew.

"Can you believe that in Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Damascus, Kuwait and all over the Islamic world hangs the picture of beautiful Queen Esther with a crown on her head and we buy her products?" exclaimed Higazi. "It is inconceivable."

He cautioned his viewers not to ransack Starbucks coffee shops or burn them down, but he exhorted everyone to boycott the offending premises.

On a section of its website devoted to the peculiar hazards of selling coffee in the Middle East, the company takes direct issue with the Egyptian imam, who has stirred up more than his share of controversy before.

"This is totally inaccurate," say Starbucks management. "This myth has been brought about by the similarity in looks on the cover of a children's book about Esther to the Starbucks logo."

In fact, says the company, the figure in its trademark is taken from a 16th century Norse woodcut.

It is unlikely the coffee-seller's protests will carry much weight, for rumour campaigns against Starbucks have been swirling unchecked through the Arab world for years.

Most of the rumours directed against the company, whose CEO Howard Schultz happens to be a Jew, involve charges the Seattle firm provides financial support for the Israeli government or the Israeli military, allegations Starbucks flatly denies.

In fact, the company does not even operate in Israel. Citing unfavourable market conditions, Starbucks closed its six Tel Aviv coffee shops in 2003 and has not returned.

But the rumours of an Israeli connection persist, bolstered by a 2006 letter, purportedly signed by Schultz, that has been floating around the Internet for several years. In it, Schultz supposedly admits to bankrolling the Jewish state with hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The letter has been debunked as a hoax, but the rumours rage on, nonetheless.

In January, demonstrators in London trashed two Starbucks coffee shops in protest against what they believed was a decision by the company to provide two weeks' worth of revenues to fund that month's bloody invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces – another rumour the company denies.

Starbucks is not alone in facing obstacles in the Middle East. More than 120 familiar corporate brands – including Sara Lee, Nestlé, Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola and Ralph Lauren – are also on the list of targets compiled by an international Boycott Israel campaign.

All these companies are accused of supporting Israel in one way or another. But do these boycotts have much impact on the targeted firms?

Most experts say no.

"The purchasing power of the Arab world is very limited," said Efraim Inbar, director of Israel's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

"It's equal to Spain. The ability of the Arab world to boycott products is very small."