The Board for Boycotting American products and companies supporting Israel demanded on Wednesday to put the resolutions of the regional boycott office in Damascus into force. 
In a statement released after holding a meeting in Beirut, the Board urged Arab governments to support locally-produced products and "never subjugate" to the American conditions regarding normalization with Israel.
The popular campaign against US products has gained momentum in the Arab World since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000.
Views on the effectiveness of the campaign differ. A U.S. report said this popular Arab campaign have resulted in specific period for losses of 40% to some U.S. companies. The report, issued by the U.S. National council for U.S.-Arab relations, said that stores selling American consumer products such as cars, drinks and foodstuff in the Gulf area have lost nearly 40 per cent of their customers because of the campaigns, which were a direct result for the Unites state’s governments support for Israel and its obvious silence regarding the Israeli atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
On the other hand, US officials said that from the economic point of view, the boycott is not an effective one since it involves only a small portion (3%) of the total foreign trade of the United States. Its economic impact on American companies seems unimportant, and is limited to a small number of companies.
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
