The Muslim Consumer Association of Malaysia said it will call on Malaysians to stop buying products from three high-profile US companies - Starbucks, Coca Cola and Colgate-Palmolive - in the predominantly Muslim nation.

The boycott aims to protest “US support of Israel’s military actions” against Palestine and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“To buy and trade with US goods is to actively support the illegal Israeli occupation in Palestine and the war in Lebanon,”  Azmin Ibrahim, the group’s organizing committee member, told AFP.

“Israel and the US has consciously destroyed Palestine and Lebanon and undermined peace in the region,” he added.

Azmin said the group will hand out leaflets to inform consumers of the boycott after Muslim prayers on Friday at two main mosques in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s government has been critical of Israel’s military actions but has ruled out boycotting goods from the United States and Britain in protest over the Lebanon assault.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said a boycott could backfire on Malaysia. The US is Malaysia’s largest trade partner and the trade relationship is worth some 44 billion dollars a year.