| SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE Paris, 25 June 2007 The letter argued that "among the World Trade Organization's 150 member-states, the United Kingdom holds the record asthe vehicle for calls to boycott a fellow member." Samuels stressed that "in contradistinction to the policy of Saudi Arabia which officially maintains a trade embargo onIsrael, it is NGOs that are behind British boycott initiatives. Yet, in no lesser fashion, these effectively implicate the British government in a serious violation of WTO rules." He noted that "the primary principles of the WTO - from GATT to the Doha Round - require: The letter continued, "An epidemic of embargo calls singling out the State of Israel - from British architects todoctors, journalists to university professors and trade unions - are now spiralling out of control. While weakening the delicate fabric of international commercial interdependence, thesecampaigns can be correlated to rising antisemitic incidents against Jews around the world who are identified with the Jewish state." Samuels contended that "the United Kingdom must be held responsible for boycotts launched in its name. Pusillanimousprotestations by government spokesmen, without appropriate countermeasures, will not contain the damage", adding that "a democracy may not be held hostage to its extremists, nor may thissituation be a pretext for inaction nor acquit its government of responsibility for the consequences." He emphasized that "the United Kingdom is obliged, under its membership commitments to the WTO, to providenon-discriminatory treatment to all other member-states." The Centre called on Lamy's direct and active involvement "to strongly urge the Government of the United Kingdom to liveup to its commitments under the WTO by its nullifying the legitimacy and implementation of British boycott initiatives." Samuels concluded, "The World Trade Organization should continue to monitor the destabilizing impact of such boycotts onthe international system. In this case, silence will only encourage the most extreme rejectionists of peace in the Middle East." |