Liaison officials for regional boycott Israel offices have convened their first meeting in over ten years at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo despite the League holding session in Damascus twice annually.
This is the first time the Arab League has hosted such a meeting despite sessions being held in Damascus twice annually for over 10 years.
The meeting, which began on September 5th and lasts until the 7th, will discuss the activation of popular and official Arab boycott Israel campaigns and whether such campaigns ought to be popular or governmental. The results of the meeting will be reported in the coming Arab foreign ministers session to be held next week.
The Assistant Arab League Secretary General for Palestine and the Occupied Territories, Ambassador Mohamed Sobeih, demanded the activation of the Arab boycott to Israel at both the popular and official levels. “The Boycott should be our main goal, and this will require a commitment to what we agree on in order to reflect a real determination to make the boycott enforceable.”
The Commissioner General of the Arab League Boycott Office, Ghaleb Saad, highlighted the significance of holding the meeting in the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, where the idea of boycotting Israel first began 60 years ago. He noted that the Arab League was the main organization from which the Boycott Office derives its legitimacy and support in order to carry out its duties in collaboration with officials at the Arab League’s Palestine Sector.
“The notion of Arab boycott of Israel has been out there for more than sixty years”, Saad added.