There is a growing feeling in Congress that one way Kuwait can show appreciation to the United States for its liberation is to end the Kuwaiti boycott of U.S. companies that do business with Israel.
A letter, signed by 90 out of 100 senators, urging the emir of Kuwait to lift this secondary boycott as he begins the rebuilding of his devastated country, was presented Saturday to Kuwait’s crown prince, Sheik Saad Abdullah as-Salim as-Sabah, by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.).
Lieberman, one of the originators of the letter, was part of a delegation of 15 senators who visited Kuwait and Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
On his return Monday to Washington, Lieberman said the crown prince, who is Kuwait’s prime minister, made no promises. But the senator said there were indications the boycott “would not be observed” in selecting companies for Kuwait’s rebuilding.
The other originators of the letter, which urged the emir to use the reconstruction of Kuwait as a. “historic opportunity to make an important move toward peace in the region,” were Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and Bob Packwood (R-Ore.).
Levin told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that after reading an article about the boycott, Lieberman and he agreed the current situation provided a good chance to break it.
Kuwait has long been one of the strictest enforcers of the boycott. The letter does not ask Kuwait to end its direct economic boycott of Israel, although current resolutions in both houses of Congress demanding Arab countries to recognize Israel list that as one of the requirements.
‘REAL LEVERAGE ON KUWAIT’
“We have got some real leverage on Kuwait,” and the United States had a “unique” opportunity “to drive home a point that when they (Kuwait) warred on Israel they also warred on American companies,” Levin said in a telephone interview.
“Since America came to their aid, they should not be waging war on American companies,” he said. It would be “just outrageous” if they continued the boycott of U.S. companies “after U.S. troops have put their lives on the line to free Kuwait.”
U.S. companies are expected to receive 70 percent of the contracts issued in the rebuilding of Kuwait. “America has earned the right to do business in Kuwait and in Israel,” Lieberman said in a statement issued last Friday.
“We should not be forced to make a choice,” he said. “Lifting this boycott on American companies can help further the cause of peace and stability in the region, as well as promote economic growth for all involved.”
Since 1977, it has been illegal for U.S. companies to supply information to Arab countries in compliance with the economic boycott of Israel. Many companies have been fined for violating the law by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Anti-boycott Compliance.
Jess Hordes, Washington representative of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, said the Bush administration supports an end to the boycott as part of its two-track approach to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“I believe it is on the menu of confidence-building measures” the administration is discussing with the Arab states now, Hordes said.
‘SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF FRICTION’
If the Arabs are serious about improving relations, “this is one of the primary areas where the Arabs can make steps forward,” Hordes said.
He said the Arabs might want to maintain the primary economic boycott against Israel until there are peace negotiations, but as an immediate step they should drop the secondary and tertiary boycotts.
The Senate letter to the emir says that the “boycott of Israel and of companies which trade with or invest in Israel is a significant impediment to the prospects for long-term peace and accommodation in the Middle East.”
“We urge you to announce that Kuwait will no longer participate in the Arab boycott of Israel and that help from any American company in the reconstruction of your nation is welcome,” the letter says.
A lifting of the secondary boycott, it says, “would constitute an important gesture toward peace in the region and would eliminate a significant source of friction between our two countries.”
Members of the House of Representatives are also pressing Kuwait to drop its boycott against U.S. firms doing business with Israel.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
