MP Mohamed Idris, chairman of Parliament’s Arab Affairs Committee, called for an economic boycott of Israel on Monday, following reports that trade between Egypt and Israel has increased after the 25 January revolution.
On Thursday the Wafd Party newspaper had cited official reports that trade between Egypt and Israel has increased significantly in 2011, compared with the previous three years. Trade stood at LE834 million, compared to LE828 million in 2010, LE675 million in 2009, and LE624 million in 2008.
“We must boycott if we support the Palestinian cause," he said.
Committee members supported Idris and said that they were against normalization with the Zionist state or visiting Jerusalem under the occupation, asking to take legal action against Israel and protect the rights of the Palestinians.
“The history of mankind was created by revolutions and challenges, not by peace,” said MP Amin Iskander. “We are not against Judaism as a religion.”
Iskander rejected calls by Bahaa Eddin al-Desouky, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Palestinian Affairs Department, for Arabs to go to Palestine and buy products to support their economy.
Nour Party MP Ali Negm urged the Arab and Muslim worlds to support Pakistan's nuclear reactor in order to confront Israel with it. “It is the only deterrent against the Zionists, since we did not succeed in reaching a Middle East that is free of weapons of mass destruction," he said, suggesting the exploitation of the Islamic “awakening” as a weapon to liberate Jerusalem.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
