The Problem with Totalitarians, Pt. 2

I suspected that we'd find this out:

The parent company of a Dubai-based firm at the center of a political storm in the US over the purchase of American ports participates in the Arab boycott against Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Yes, of course the boycott is still in place and is still enforced," Muhammad Rashid a-Din, a staff member of the Dubai Customs Department's Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the Post in a telephone interview.

"If a product contained even some components that were made in Israel, and you wanted to import it to Dubai, it would be a problem," he said.

Moreover, the Post found that the website for Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone Area, which is also part of the PCZC, advises importers that they will need to comply with the terms of the boycott.

In a section entitled "Frequently Asked Questions", the site lists six documents that are required in order to clear an item through the Dubai Customs Department. One of them, called a "Certificate of Origin," "is used by customs to confirm the country of origin and needs to be seen by the office which ensures any trade boycotts are enforced," according to the website.

On at least three separate occasions last year, the Post has learned, companies were fined by the US government's Office of Anti-boycott Compliance, an arm of the Commerce Department, on charges connected to boycott-related requests they had received from the Government of Dubai.

US law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel.

It's not about anti-Arabism and it never was (at least not until politicians thought that'd be a good way to sell it to an easily led public). This is a government whose actions we should not substantiate by throwing dollars at their state-run corporations.

There are more grounded, practical reasons to why we should be cautious of this deal here. Add that to the new evidence that the Coast Guard voiced concerns over the deal. You know the Coast Guard; they're the ones who run security at the ports.

I don't think the White House is going to want 6 more weeks of this drip-drip-drip of bad news during the 45-day review. Look for this deal to be stuck in a file somewhere and thrown out to sea. Then maybe we won't have to hear idiots like Richard Cohen try to shrug off legitimate concerns by crying racism.