ABSTRACT
Economic boycott was a weapon of total war against not only the State of Israel but also against its Jewish citizens who had dared to cast off the sackcloth of second-class citizens of the Arab world, and against all other Jews who gave material aid. The distinction between economic and racial discrimination becomes blurred; indeed, they appear to be of the same genus, perhaps twins. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism merge. The Arabs continue to maintain that economics have nothing to do with politics, and that Arab economic measures against Israel have nothing to do with racism. There is a school of thought that supposes that these somewhat febrile manifestations of antisemitism do not matter. Unfortunately, people talk to people and the contagion spreads, or at least persists. Perhaps it seems far-fetched to relate economic boycott with traditional, instinctive antisemitism. Economic boycott may look like a mere pimple; the virus remains.
