Arab League’s Boycott Israel Conference Opens In Cairo

JAFFA, Israel – The 90th Boycott Israel conference opened in Cairo on Wednesday in the wake of an Arab League resolution to increase efforts to isolate Israel diplomatically and financially.

According to the Arab media, the conference will focus on devising strategies to boycott Israel, drafting a list of companies not abiding by the boycott, deciding what sanctions are to be imposed on such companies, and issuing position papers warning companies of the dangers of dealing with Israel.

Also to be discussed are methods to facilitate the coordination between the different Boycott Israel bureaus across the Arab world.

The conference leadership issued a statement that stressed “the importance of the boycott to the Palestinian struggle and the fight against the occupation, while using lawful and economic means that would lead to favorable consequences, is invaluable.”

Waleed Alhamadi, the head of the Kuwaiti delegation, was quoted by the national press as saying, “Kuwait is the strictest adherent to the economic boycott of Israel.”

Alhamadi, who is a Customs Department official, said that a number of companies “trading with Israel and peddling settlement goods” have been added to the blacklist.

“The boycott troubles Israel a lot and drives it to spend a lot of money trying to counter it,” he said. “In Kuwait, we labor to impose it hermetically. We don’t allow Israeli merchandise into the country, and the people boycott Israeli products and even report to the authorities if they come across any.”

“The consequences of the boycott are clear,” he said, adding that Israel tries to penetrate Arab markets in order to overcome the dire results.

Based in Damascus for years, the Arab Boycott Israel directorate recently moved to Cairo due to the Syrian civil war.