The Arab states are intensifying their boycott campaign against British firms which deal with Israel or have Jewish employes in senior positions, it was revealed here today in a survey of Arab anti-Jewish activities. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, at a meeting last night, discussed the extent of injury done by the Arab boycott and blackmail.
It was learned that the Arab countries have been taking turns applying pressure on various British firms. The strategy apparently has been to have one country’s embassy write various British corporations threatening a boycott if they do not cease trading with Israel. The next month this embassy remains quiet while the next Arab mission writes to different companies threatening boycott because: “We understand that you have an agent in Israel” or “You have a Jewish director.”
One company which has openly resisted this type of pressure is Pilot Radio, an Anglo-American enterprise which has refused to knuckle under to boycott threats and close up a subsidiary it recently opened in Israel. The Leyland Motor Corporation, which sells buses to Israel, has been threatened with boycott unless it withdraws from the Anglo-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
A number of well known firms, with heavy commitments in Arab trade, have surrendered to the boycott. The British Overseas Airways Corporation and Scandinavian Airlines have refused to accept Jews as passengers in planes stopping in Arab countries, while BOAC discontinued service to Lydda, Israel’s major airport, on the excuse that there are insufficient planes available for the run. At the same time, BOAC has increased its service to Lebanon. After 30 years of doing business in Israel, the British-American Tobacco Company has disposed of its plant in Tel Aviv.
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.
