The short fuse of malice.

December 4, 2002 7:37 AM

Bombs found at Dutch IKEA stores. New terror against Ikea's child labour practices?
posted by The Jesse Helms (20 comments total)

They probably just found the Bømb toiletseat.
posted by sebas at 7:44 AM on December 4, 2002

The Jesse Helms: I don't understand the alleged connection. Someone's bombing Ikea because they're trying to exit arrangements with "child labor" suppliers?
posted by dazed_n_confused at 7:57 AM on December 4, 2002

Yeah, I'm a little confused at the implication too, are you sure its not because of the owner's alcoholism? Maybe somebody hates drunks?
posted by Pollomacho at 7:59 AM on December 4, 2002

There were some other bomb alerts or devices found at ANP (press agency), the NAM in Assen and the Dutch embassy in Uganda. One device was dismantled in a police office not 500 meters from my home. Police don't think it is is terrorist activity.
posted by prolific at 8:01 AM on December 4, 2002

Well, the last paragraph of the first linked article does say:

IKEA has been hit by bomb scares before, linked to the company's alleged use of child labour.
posted by staggernation at 8:01 AM on December 4, 2002

... one device exploded last night when experts tried to dismantle it. Two members of the bomb squad were hurt.
posted by prolific at 8:03 AM on December 4, 2002

It's difficult to infer a coherent argument from anonymous bombs -- let along Dutch terrorism, generally. It's equally difficult to infer IKEA's labor practices from the articles you linked.

Besides, the number-one cause of childhood poverty is childhood unemployment.
posted by subgenius at 8:22 AM on December 4, 2002

shocking! the bomb going off when dismantled, i mean.

are these bombs really there due to alleged child labour practices? youd' think they'd bomb some other high profile companies instead [and maybe bomb a place that isn't full of kids and families during all opening hours..]... Maybe someone just found out abourt Kamprands nazi sympathetic past.
posted by dabitch at 8:26 AM on December 4, 2002

I am the sound of Jack's utter lack of surprise.

Someone set up us the Blangvåd.
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:30 AM on December 4, 2002

Excuse me, I'm on deadline and near-incoherent.
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:30 AM on December 4, 2002

If people are too scared to shop, the economy is fskd.

For this reason, not to mention Sub-Genius's,I prefer to think at this point that its an attack against the western consumption-based economy.
posted by BentPenguin at 8:35 AM on December 4, 2002

I won't even speculate on the reasons for this - could be extreme left-wingers, could be a specifically anti-IKEA conspiracy theorist, could be someone with a specific gripe against the company, or a specific gripe against Sweden, of which IKEA is a very visible symbol - it's worth noting that IKEA has gotten flak from both sides of the political spectrum. Its ads featuring gay couples and a transsexual, for example, also provoked some very angry people on the right. So this could be just about anyone.
posted by 23lemurs at 9:59 AM on December 4, 2002

Then again...this Swedish newspaper story says that Austrian IKEA has gotten a letter demanding money. So this may have nothing to do with politics at all.
posted by 23lemurs at 10:10 AM on December 4, 2002

yeah, i keep hearing it was some sort of extortion attempt.
posted by donkeyschlong at 10:45 AM on December 4, 2002

Or it could have to do with the founder's former Nazism leanings.
Or it could have to do with one of their crappy chairs coming apart on the right/wrong guy.

"That's not art, it's a BBQ that pushed me over the edge" -Homer Simpson
posted by nomisxid at 10:48 AM on December 4, 2002

[unboring]You think the bomb is because of the child labor. That is because you crazy. The child feels nothing. And the new lamp is much better.[/unboring]
posted by macadamiaranch at 11:36 AM on December 4, 2002

Fascinating piece on Ikea in last week's NYT Magazine, "How the Disposable Sofa Conquered America" and a companion piece on the housing developments Ikea is spearheading in Europe. Only mention of the child labor issues is: "But the company has an impressive track record for avoiding controversy and keeping its positive, even benevolent, image intact. Ikea was mentioned in a 1992 documentary that looked at child labor in Pakistan but managed to escape the damaging publicity lobbed at Nike and other multinationals, in part by forming strategic partnerships with groups like Greenpeace, Unicef and Save the Children. In 1998, when it was struggling with its environmental policy, Ikea reached out to Greenpeace and bankrolled a major research project by the World Resources Institute that impressed all involved parties. "
posted by donovan at 3:15 PM on December 4, 2002

If people are too scared to shop...

...buy Amazon.
posted by lbergstr at 5:24 PM on December 4, 2002

maybe its the old Nazic roots connection again: http://www.jewishsf.com/bk000407/1aikea.shtml (sorry, the link button's awol)
posted by marvin at 10:17 PM on December 4, 2002

I meant "Nazi".
posted by marvin at 10:19 PM on December 4, 2002