SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE
64 avenue Marceau - 75008 Paris - Tel. +33147237637 - Fax: +33147208401

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wiesenthal Centre to World Trade Organization: "Urge United Kingdom to Comply with WTO Commitments by Nullifying British Boycott Initiatives against Israel"

Paris, 25 June 2007

In a letter to Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, called for Lamy's "active involvement by strongly urging the Government of the United Kingdom to comply with WTO obligations, by its undertaking measures to nullify the implementation of British boycott initiatives."

The letter argued that "among the World Trade Organization's 150 member-states, the United Kingdom holds the record as the 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 on Israel, 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:
a) 'trade without discrimination'
b) 'national treatment whereby foreigners and locals are treated equally'."

The letter continued, "An epidemic of embargo calls singling out the State of Israel - from British architects to doctors, journalists to university professors and trade unions - are now spiralling out of control. While weakening the delicate fabric of international commercial interdependence, these campaigns 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. Pusillanimous protestations 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 this situation 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 provide non-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 live up 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 on the international system. In this case, silence will only encourage the most extreme rejectionists of peace in the Middle East."

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33.609.77.01.58