February 28, 2006
ECONOMICS TRUMPS IDEOLOGY:
Arab boycott largely reduced to 'lip service' (ORLY HALPERN, 2/28/06, Jerusalem Post)
The Arab boycott, established by the Arab League in 1951 as an economic tool to hurt Israel, is a dying animal. Ask Aramex.The company, which provides delivery services around the world, is commonly used by Arab and Israeli companies who want to exchange goods without upsetting any Arab port officials. The company provides customers with US mailing addresses where Israeli products can be sent. It then exchanges the Israeli postalstamped packaging for a US-stamped package and sends it on to its Arab destination.
So while some Arab ports will not accept goods marked "Made in Israel," if you take off the sticker and send it through another country, the deal is done.
"Besides Syria, the Arab boycott is now just lip service," said Doron Peskin, head of research at InfoProd, a consulting firm for foreign and Israeli companies specializing in trade to Arab states.
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 28, 2006 6:11 PM
More ridiculous let's pretend pandering.
Posted by: erp at February 28, 2006 6:17 PMI betcha one place where the boycott is taken seriously is in Western Europe. I'd still like to know how many of those Danish companies being boycotted in Arab countries did any business in Israel.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at February 28, 2006 6:35 PMWe tend to see the lethal, tragic side of Arab hatred most prominently displayed in the news, but often I'm struck by it's sheer petulance and petty malice more than it’s grandiose, genocidal posturing.
Posted by: Amos at February 28, 2006 6:45 PM