ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT MEETING: SPIELBERG DESIGNATED

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000410

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2017
TAGS: ECON KBCT PHUM SY
SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT MEETING: SPIELBERG DESIGNATED

REF: 06 DAMASCUS 05302

Classified By: A/DCM William Roebuck for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (U) Summary. The semi-annual meeting of the Arab League
Boycott group was held April 23-26 in Damascus.
Participation and results followed expectations and closely
paralleled last November,s gathering (reftel). No companies
were dropped; the one announced addition to the blacklist of
entities is film director Steven Spielberg and his Righteous
Persons Foundation. End Summary.


2. (C) The semi-annual meeting of the Damascus-based Arab
League Boycott Office (ALBO) was held April 23-26. In
attendance were diplomats and/or representatives from
Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, the
Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria,
Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to
Muhammed al Ajami, head of the Syrian Regional Office for the
Boycott of Israel. The Arab League main body and the
Organization of Islamic Conference also had members present,
he said. Malaysia, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia showed
support (via the OIC) for the boycott, and they and other
countries will likely implement their own bans following the
ALBO format, Ajami speculated. As with prior meetings, the
most notable absences were those Arab states who have signed
separate accords with Israel: Jordan, Egypt and Mauritania,
Ajami said. Djibouti and Somalia did not attend, despite
earlier efforts by ALBO seeking to encourage their presence,
said Ajami.


3. (C) No companies were removed from the list during this
most recent meeting. The one addition mentioned was film
director Steven Spielberg, who was singled out for his USD
one million donation to Israel last year during the summer
conflict in Lebanon, according to Ajami. The committee
banned all films and other products related to Spielberg or
his Righteous Persons Foundation, Ajami said. Generic
enforcement guidelines given to ALBO members include the
banning of DVD imports and airing of Spielberg,s films.
Financial services behemoth Merrill Lynch, while not added to
the blacklist, landed on ALBO,s watchlist, according to
Ajami. Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder was added to the
blacklist at the November 2006 meeting after being on the
watchlist for several months, he added, to underline the
potential significance of being put on the watchlist.


4. (C) Comment. Ajami was much more forthcoming with EconOff
than he was in a November 2006 meeting, expressing confidence
that the boycott was growing stronger and asserting that
Israel,s position in the region was becoming weaker.
Echoing what seemed like a SARG-supplied talking point, Ajami
also claimed that Syria is now being recognized as a key
player in regional problems and beyond.
CORBIN