Egyptian
businessmen society halts relations with Israeli companies
Arab News
24 April 2002
The Egyptian businessmen society has taken one of the strongest
political stances in its history and announced immediate measures
in support of the Palestinian people.
In a statement, the society stressed halting relations or dealings
with Israeli companies and businessmen and that it will urge the
Egyptians and the Arabs alike, individuals and governments to transfer
a large sum of Arab assets to the European banks and if it is possible
to withdraw the sums, at least not to transfer new assets to the
American banks and to direct all Arab purchases to countries other
than the US so as the American economy will suffer the price of
the USA's "blind bias" to Israel.
Estimates place Arab sums invested abroad at about 1 trillion dollars
with some more recent estimates placing this value at about 2.4
trillion dollars, with the majority of it invested in the United
States. It is noted that the Arab economies are consumption oriented
where they can purchase their imports from a variety of sources,
while their exports to the USA, are predominately oil, a commodity
that its sale cannot be sanctioned as it floats on the international
market.
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