The central Arab office for the boycott of Israel has drafted proposals for reviving the economic embargo against the Jewish state to comply with recent Arab League resolutions, officials said today.
The Damascus-based office, an offshoot of the Arab League, has prepared a report on how to step up the boycott that would be discussed by the League's ministerial council next month.
The report said Israel would lose at least $3 billion a year if boycott rules were strictly observed by Arab states.
Political analysts said the Arab boycott of Israel had faded after the start of Arab-Israeli peace talks in 1991.
Officials said the call to revive the boycott was made by the League's ministerial council last September, the month that clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It was reaffirmed at recent meetings of a follow-up committee formed by an Arab summit in Cairo in October.
The revival of the boycott of Israel and blocking Israel's penetration into the Arab market could be achieved through several means, the report said.
It said the role of so-called liaison boycott offices in all Arab states should be revived to block any dealings with blacklisted companies.
Meetings of the boycott office should be attended by all members and the role of Arab economic committees based outside the Arab world should be reactivated to pursue implementation of the boycott rules and trace companies violating them, it said.
It also called for the launch of a media campaign to tell Israel that it could not enjoy the benefits of peace if it did not withdraw fully from all occupied Arab lands.