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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Palestinian Boycott Of Israeli Goods Faltering |
| 2014-12-19 |
| [Ynet] Economic boycott faltering due to lack of substitutes of Israeli products, and the dissipation of some of the anger toward Israel over the Gazoo summer war. WEST BANK ? A Paleostinian official has admitted that the Paleostinian boycott of goods made in Israel is faltering, both because of a lack of substitutes of Israeli products, and the dissipation of some of the anger toward Israel over last summer?s fighting with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in the Gazoo Strip that left more than 2,200 Paleostinians dead. The boycott is part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which aims to make Israel pay an economic price for its continued control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and its blockade of the Gazoo Strip. ?There has been a decline in the boycott on some items ? most of the Israeli food products are still being boycotted, but the main problem is fruits and vegetables,? PLO Executive Committee member and BDS advocate Mustafa Bargouti told The Media Line. ?The boycott reached its peak during the war,? he added. An Israeli government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the Paleostinian boycott was having an effect on his country last summer. ?There were some days in specific areas where Israeli products were not purchased. These cases during Operation Protective Edge were caused and motivated by Paleostinian business entities that had an economic interest in reducing the volume of the import from Israel,? the official told The Media Line. At the same time, Coordination for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has told The Media Line that following the Israeli-Hamas conflict, the numbers of trucks carrying Israeli products that entered the West Bank this year, 22,810 were fewer than in 2013 when the total reached 23,945. This could be the reason why Bargouti, also the President of the Paleostinian National Initiative (Al Mubadara), still classifies the boycott as ?successful.? However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the Israeli government official denied that the Paleostinian boycott is having a real effect on the Israeli economy. ?The export of Israeli products to the Paleostinian Authority areas continues normally,? he said. Paleostinian economists say it is hard to find accurate statistics on how much Israel has been affected by the Paleostinian boycott, but they agree that enthusiasm for boycotting Israeli goods is declining on the Paleostinian street. "If the boycott of Israeli goods reached its peak during the war on Gazoo, and was at 80 percent, now it is no more than 20-30 percent," Birzeit University professor Nasr Abdelkarim told The Media Line. He said items such as water, gas, oil, electricity, were impossible to boycott. Total imports from Israel are $4.5 billion annually. He says $3.5 billion are things like electricity and water that the Paleostinians do not have the resources to produce themselves, leaving $1 billion of goods that could be boycotted. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 Palestinian economists --- now there would be some interesting characters. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-12-19 19:41 |
| #3 So, they've decided they'd like to eat, eh? |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-12-19 07:18 |
| #2 Naw, they got pebbles. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-12-19 07:15 |
| #1 Two words: toilet paper embargo |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2014-12-19 01:40 |