Dubai ports firm enforces Israel boycott
The parent company of a Dubai-based firm at the center of a political storm in the US over the purchase of American ports participates in the Arab boycott against Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.So why is this a big deal? Well, besides the fact that the anti-Israel boycott maintained by the state-owned parent company of Dubai Ports World is one more dirt clod on an already-existing mountain of evidence that even our "allies" in the Global War on Terrorism have the destruction of Israel as their ultimate goal, such a boycott is against United States law:
The firm, Dubai Ports World, is seeking control over six major US ports, including those in New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It is entirely owned by the Government of Dubai via a holding company called the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCZC), which consists of the Dubai Port Authority, the Dubai Customs Department and the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area.
"Yes, of course the boycott is still in place and is still enforced," Muhammad Rashid a-Din, a staff member of the Dubai Customs Department's Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the Post in a telephone interview.
"If a product contained even some components that were made in Israel, and you wanted to import it to Dubai, it would be a problem," he said.
A-Din noted that while the head office for the anti-Israel boycott sits in Damascus, he and his fellow staff members are paid employees of the Dubai Customs Department, which is a division of the PCZC, the same Dubai government-owned entity that runs Dubai Ports World.
Moreover, the Post found that the website for Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone Area, which is also part of the PCZC, advises importers that they will need to comply with the terms of the boycott.
In a section entitled "Frequently Asked Questions", the site lists six documents that are required in order to clear an item through the Dubai Customs Department. One of them, called a "Certificate of Origin," "is used by customs to confirm the country of origin and needs to be seen by the office which ensures any trade boycotts are enforced," according to the website.
A-Din of the Israel boycott office confirmed that his office examines certificates of origin as a means of verifying whether a product originated in the Jewish state.
On at least three separate occasions last year, the Post has learned, companies were fined by the US government's Office of Anti-boycott Compliance, an arm of the Commerce Department, on charges connected to boycott-related requests they had received from the Government of Dubai.Looks like the misgivings of the Coasties aren't the only reason to nix this deal. It needs to be "Mired." Like, ten minutes ago.
US law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel.
In one instance, according to a Commerce Department press release, a New York-based exporter agreed to pay a fine for having "failed to report in a timely manner its receipts of requests from Dubai" to provide certification that its products had not been made in Israel.
It's discouraging that despite all the legitimate reasons we find to show why DPW should not be allowed to participate in port management, that the opposition to the Port scandal is fading.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most annoying arguments in their favor is the statement made by many that "It isn't as if they are managing the entire ports, after all, it's only 30% of the terminals in any given port that they are involved with!"
Of course, that involves thousands upon thousands of containers - to say nothing of lots of personnel - that are transferred to barges, trucks and railroads, and taken to every village and city, and every facility everywhere in the country. But hey, it's only 30%. . .
The latest tactic has been to trot out senior officers of DPW who are American citizens. This has a profound psychological effect on many of those who are questioning this deal. "Why," they say to themselves upon seeing people like this, "they are just like us! They are Americans! All is well!"
It goes on and on; there can be no question that we will lose this one too. Dubai will agree to modify its boycott on Israeli products - and in classical Islamic fashion, the agreement will be meaningless.
The practice of deception will continue; it will be "business as usual," with the greater goal of Islamic conquest of the planet taking (temporary) precedance over present policy towards Israel.
Lock and load.