The Year Book of World Affairs, 1978 by George W. Keeton & Georg Schwarzenberger

Author:George W. Keeton & Georg Schwarzenberger [Keeton, George W. & Schwarzenberger, Georg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780891588245
Google: MU6fDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 34020694
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1979-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

II—THE ARAB BOYCOTT, THE OIL EMBARGO, AND ARAB-ISRAELI CONFRONTATION

Another difficulty in strengthening economic ties between the Middle East and the industrialised West is the current Arab economic boycott of Israel. Actually, there is not much that is new in the existing boycott, for it has been much the same since its inception at Damascus by the members of the Arab League Council in May 1951. It differs from the boycott of Cuba by the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the earlier United States boycott of the People's Republic of China in one major respect. The American boycotts were direct and did not include third countries, nor were they applied in an indirect fashion. The Arab boycott of Israel does both. Its underlying rationale is that the Arab League is at war with Israel, and therefore the use of economic as well as military means to achieve its political objectives should be expected. It is a logical extension of the military campaign to destroy Israel.19

From the American perspective, the real issue is whether or not there is also a secondary boycott directed against United States business instead of a primary boycott against Israel alone. The Arab reply is that the boycott is considered to be a means of self-defence against a hostile people. "In numerous instances, companies have had to decide between investing in Arab nations or in Israel. It is beyond dispute that many of these firms have had to choose one market and forgo the other..."20 From the Arab perspective, the problem is a simple one. Israel ultimately will have to choose between continuing as a client State of the United States and an agent of International Zionism or becoming part of the Middle East.

The ramifications of this still volatile situation (which was a focus of contention in the recent American presidential debates) extend south of the Sahara to black Africa, where as a result of petrodollar diplomacy and the October War, almost all of Sub-Sahara Africa came to support the Arab cause and the anti-Israeli boycott. Already Arab petrodollars are reaching black Africa, and new ties are being fashioned, while old ones are being further extended. The Sahara is no longer the political and economic barrier that it had been in past history. Black Africa and North Africa are becoming joined, and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which officially favoured the Arab States during the October War, has similarly favoured the Arab boycott of Israel. In point of fact, the OAU not only has offered its good offices to help resolve tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, but also seeks investment of petrodollars in the development of its own considerable natural resources.21

The legality of the Arab oil embargo, fashioned as an instrument of war in October 1973, and thereafter applied as a political weapon, has been the source of considerable disagreement.22 Oil was "the most powerful sanction the Arab world had against the industrialised powers, led by the United States, on the Palestine issue."23 Implementation of the

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