Countries Engage In Hidden Trade

[No Exit]

Israel, Arab World Engage in Hidden Trade

Monday December 26, 2005 6:17 PM

By JASPER MORTIMER

Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Staff members at a Riyadh hospital got a surprise when they looked at the fine print on the paper cups they were using. Workers in a storeroom at a Dubai hospital were similarly shocked when they took a close look at the tags on a large shipment of uniforms, towels and sheets.

The labels said ``Made in Israel,'' according to recent newspaper reports from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which have laws that ban imports from the Jewish state.

Experts say the camouflaged trade, with just a small portion receiving publicity, has been going on for years between Israel and its officially hostile Arab neighbors.

The hidden trade is worth about $400 million a year - about two and a half times what Israel sold to its official Arab trading partners, Egypt and Jordan, in 2004 - said Gil Feiler, the director of Info-Prod Research, a Tel Aviv consultancy specializing in Arab markets, and an economic professor at Bar Ilan University.

(snip)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5504627,00.html

It's nice to know that they don't really "hate" each other quite as much as I thought...