Michael Freund is Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), which reaches out and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. He writes a syndicated column and feature stories for the Jerusalem Post. Previously, he served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning in the Israeli Prime Minister´s Office under former premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mon Apr 16, 2007 4:15 pm Saudis continue to boycott Israel
Saudis continue to boycott Israel
By Michael Freund
The Jerusalem Post
April 16, 2007
Despite a promise made to Washington nearly 18 months ago to drop its trade embargo against Israel, Saudi Arabia continues to enforce the Arab League boycott, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
In November 2005, Riyadh pledged to abandon the boycott after Washington conditioned Saudi Arabia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on such a move. A month later, on December 11, Saudi Arabia was granted WTO membership.
The WTO, which aims to promote free trade, prohibits members from engaging in discriminatory practices such as boycotts or embargoes.
Nonetheless, the Post has found, Saudi officials continue to bar entry to products manufactured in Israel or to foreign-made goods containing Israeli components.
"Goods made in Israel are not allowed here in Saudi Arabia," Khaled A-Sharif, assistant manager of the Saudi Customs Department at King Abdul Aziz Airport outside Jidda, told the Post by phone. "Of course it is not permitted," he said.
In the past, A-Sharif added, products made by firms that had "a relation" with Israel were also prohibited, but these were now allowed to be brought into the country.
A Saudi customs official at the airport, who identified himself only as Feisal, told the Post, "If it is made in Israel, then it is not allowed here in Saudi Arabia. If it is made in any other country, then no problem. But not from Israel."
A Saudi customs official at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, who declined to give his name, told the Post Israeli-made goods would be confiscated upon arrival and not permitted entry into the kingdom. "You know, it is not allowed here," he said.
US officials have said they continue to raise the boycott issue with their Saudi counterparts.
In a written response appearing in last month's Congressional Record, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab addressed the question of Saudi compliance after being queried on the matter by Sen. Gordon Smith.
In her reply to Smith, Schwab confirmed that continued Saudi enforcement of the anti-Israel boycott would "not be in keeping" with Riyadh's commitments under the WTO.
Since the Saudis acceded to the WTO, Schwab wrote, "there have been conflicting signals from Saudi officials" regarding the boycott.
"We have taken every available opportunity to raise this issue with Saudi authorities to remind them of their commitment and our expectation that they honor this commitment," she said. "The administration will continue to monitor the situation."
As the Post revealed last year, the Saudis played host in March 2006 to a major international conference aimed at intensifying the anti-Israel boycott, and an official Saudi delegation took part in a meeting of the Arab League's boycott office in Damascus last May.
Damascus Hosts Arab 'Boycott of Israel' Conference
Iraq, Saudi Arabia Among 14 Nations in Attendance
By Michael Freund
Representatives of 14 Arab states convened in Damascus this week for a four-day gathering aimed at strengthening the economic and trade boycott of Israel.
The event, which began on Monday, is being held under the auspices of the Arab League and brings together regional liaison officers from participating Arab countries. It marks the fourth time the boycott officers have met in the past 18 months.
Ostensible US allies such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia are among the countries taking part.
This is likely to evoke irritation in Washington, as US officials have been pressing Baghdad and Riyadh to end their enforcement of the embargo, which bars trade with Israel or dealing in Israeli-made goods.
As The Jerusalem Post revealed last week, the Saudis continue to implement the boycott of Israel in violation of a pledge made to the Bush Administration in November 2005.
On the basis of that pledge, Washington agreed to the desert kingdom's request to accede to the World Trade Organization.
According to reports in the Syrian press, the
participants at this week's conference are planning to add an undisclosed number of foreign firms to the blacklist they maintain of companies that do business with Israel.
Presiding over the meeting is Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Muhammad Soboh, who praised Syria in his opening remarks for playing host to the boycott office.
Although the Arab League has its headquarters in Cairo, the organization's Office for the Boycott of Israel has been based in the Syrian capital since its establishment in 1951.
Various speakers at the conference underlined the importance of the embargo on Israel as a means of pressuring the Jewish state to make diplomatic concessions.
"The Arab boycott of Israel will remain an influential tool and strong backer of the Palestinian people until the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and the restoration of all the occupied Arab territories," Muhammad al-Ajami, director of the Syrian Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the official Syrian news agency SANA.
Other participants in this week's parley include Syria, Sudan, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Yemen.
Egypt and Jordan, both of which have signed peace treaties with Israel, are not participating in the meeting.
View previous topic • View next topic 
