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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Anti-normalisation in the Gulf
By Sherine BahaaAround 300 intellectuals and members of parliament from Kuwait and other Arab Gulf countries announced last week the establishment of an association in Kuwait to oppose normalising relations with Israel. This organisation is the first of its kind in the Gulf region.
Participants in the first meeting of the Popular Conference for Combating Normalisation were mainly from Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Kuwaiti organisers said that they had been preparing to establish the association for the past two years.
US pressure tactics and the commercial inroads made by Israel into some Arab Gulf countries appear to have been prime movers behind the creation of the anti-normalisation body.
The organisation's first meeting came shortly after a US State Department spokesman said that Washington expected Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel regardless of the progress made in Middle East peace talks.
According to Abdullah Al-Nibari, a Kuwaiti member of parliament and one of the new organisation's leaders, Israeli officials had been pressing for what they describe as increasing cooperation between oil money and Israeli expertise. They have also indicated that they want the oil-rich Gulf nations to help pay the bill for any peace settlement between the Arabs and Israel. "They [Israel] want Arab wealth to finance the redeployment of Israeli troops, the dismantling of Jewish settlements and other commitments of peace. But this option is totally rejected," Al-Nibari told Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview.
Before the Gulf War in 1991, Kuwait was one of the most zealous supporters of the Arab boycott against Israel. However, following the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, which was held a few months after the end of the war, many Arab countries moved towards easing restrictions aimed at isolating Israel.
What is known as the Arab boycott of the 2nd and 3rd degree -- the boycott of companies and states dealing with Israel -- was officially lifted by the Arab League. Only the first degree boycott, which restricts direct dealings with Israel, remains in place. Yet, according to most observers, this ban amounts to little more than ink on paper given the increase in trade ties between Israel and several Arab countries while the embargo remains in force.
Even before the partial lifting of the boycott became official, Israeli goods used to find their way into Arab markets under different labels or after the country of origin was falsified on labels and import documents. In recent years, however, even products carrying the "Made in Israel" label have been spotted on the Arab Gulf markets.
Bahrain, Oman and Qatar went further than to turn a blind eye to the influx of Israeli products when in 1994 they allowed Israel to open trade offices in their countries.
According to Ghassan Tahboub, managing editor of the United Arab Emirates-based daily Al-Khalij newspaper, Arab satellite television channels also played a role in "normalising" ties between Arab Gulf nationals and Israel by regularly hosting Israeli officials on their shows. "At first, bringing Israeli officials on TV screens was confined to [London-based] Middle East Broadcasting Corporation and Al-Jazira satellite television channels. Yet, now, other satellite channels have followed suit, and it has become normal to hear the Hebrew language in our homes," said Tahboub.
At the end of the meeting of the members of the anti-normalisation association in Kuwait, participants issued a statement calling upon Arab governments to restore the economic boycott against Israel. Specifically they called for the reactivation of the role performed in the past by the Damascus-based Arab Economic Boycott Office which used to issue a "blacklist" of companies which dealt directly with Israel. The office has been virtually inactive in recent years after most Arab countries established direct contacts with Israel.
The participants in Kuwait's meeting also called for establishing similar gatherings in other Gulf states in order to "coordinate and integrate anti-normalisation efforts."
According to Al-Nibari, the meeting afforded an opportunity to remind Arabs of the importance of reviving solidarity shattered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. "The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and its negative repercussions on inter-Arab relations has haunted joint Arab activities both on the official and popular levels," said Al-Nibari. "Unfortunately, at a time when the whole world seems to be moving towards establishing regional blocs, Arab governments are adopting insular policies that are creating more divisions among them."
