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Boycotts, Divestment and Peace
By Fred Taub
March 9,
2005
 The Bush administration has
repeatedly stated that democracies do not wage war against each other as the
reason why democracy must be brought to the Middle East, but that is not
entirely accurate. The fact is that countries relying on and trading with each
other do not wage war on each other. While democracy is a helpful part of that
equation, because it fosters prosperity and human rights, thus deepening
economic ties, the actual vital element in the promotion of peace is simply
economic cooperation. The single largest impediment to peace in the Middle East
is, therefore, not land and who lives where, but rather the official Arab
League boycott of Israel, which was declared even before Israel was created
with hopes of starving Israel out of existence.
US
anti-boycott laws were created to prevent US citizens from taking part in
foreign boycotts of nations friendly to the US, because such activity can
create de facto foreign policy. Such boycotts, however, are being pushed in the
US primarily by Arab groups, in the form of divest-from-Israel campaigns that
include efforts to exclude academic works and visiting professors from Israel,
which is akin to book burnings.
Although the
divest-from-Israel campaigns were originally campus based, several unsuccessful
attempts have been made to expand the Arab boycott of Israel to businesses and
municipalities under the cloak of fostering peace. Most businesses realize that
joining the Arab boycott of Israel may not only be illegal, but getting
involved in such campaigns can put their company in the middle of a fight their
products have nothing to do with, and is therefore bad for business. The
municipal campaigns are primarily being pursued for symbolic purposes,
regardless if the targeted agencies have any business dealings with Israeli
companies. Such efforts are merely political and have nothing to do with
governance.
The boycott of Israel among Arab League
states certainly prevents free and open trade, which is vital to peace. The
question at hand is what needs to come first - peace or economic cooperation?
While it can be argued that peace is required before economic cooperation can
exist, it is also clear that without economic cooperation there can be no
peace. Democracy, however, is not required. Cuba and the USSR had economic
cooperation and peace, but socialism held back both countries from real
prosperity. Dictatorships, including in Arab states, have conducted trade with
each other and have had peace.
Arab organizations,
primarily on campuses, sponsor divest-from-Israel campaigns, which are in
essence boycotts, and recruit non-Arab students to participate in their
campaigns under the guise of human rights activism for Palestinians. Although
divestment advocates may claim their actions facilitate peace, they have been
co-opted into emboldening the Arab nations to continue their economic warfare
against Israel and are thus creating an impediment to peace, rather than the
peace they actually desire.
Instead of phasing out
the Arab boycott of Israel to facilitate peace, the Arab League has been
bolstering its efforts to wage economic warfare against Israel in special
sessions of Arab League meetings. While negotiating for peace with Israel, the
Palestinian Authority, which is signatory to the Arab boycott of Israel,
launched the divest-from-Israel campaign through a US professor who acted as an
advisor to the PA's negotiating team. At the same time the PA claimed it was
negotiating in good faith, it was actually working on its new campaign to
destroy Israel via economic collapse.
If anyone
truly expects peace to break out in the Middle-East, then there first must be
an end to the Arab boycott of Israel, because peace can not exist unless people
have a mutual interest in the singular elements that keep peace - free trade
and economic dependence. Before trading land or drawling lines on maps, the
Bush administration needs to make ending the Arab boycott of Israel its first
priority or bloodshed will continue, especially if a militant Palestinian state
is created.
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