An anti-Israeli committee in UAE has urged firms to take firm measures to prevent Israeli goods from entering the local market, reported the Gulf News on Wednesday.
The Emirates National Committee against Normalization with the Israeli Enemy (ENCAN) said that products such as books, postage stamps, bottled water, pens and toy guns which feature the Star of David, the insignia of the Zionist state, had all recently been found in the UAE.
Abdullah Alshamsi, ENCAN general secretary, told the paper that the committee had written letters to the Chamber of Commerce, the General Secretariat of UAE Municipalities and the Council of Customs, demanding the immediate removal of the offending products from the market.
"We have requested that the authorities do something about this kind of infiltration of Israeli goods and propaganda," he said.
"There has been no response yet, so we are thinking of visiting their offices in person and asking them to do a little more about the issue.
"It is a violation of the UAE laws and a violation of the feelings and emotions of the UAE people."
Alshamsi speculated that such goods might have penetrated the local market through neighboring Arab or Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
"These goods might have passed through customs without being properly checked for hidden logos and symbols," he said.
"We have not spoken to the retailers. It is not our job. We will write to them, but it is the responsibility of the government. People who sell such things, if there is a punishment for them, it should be enforced."
The committee was founded by nine prominent nationals - including academics, journalists, and businessmen - last November in response to widespread anti-Israel sentiment in the UAE.
Alshamsi said its 90 members had no qualms over charges that such movements ran counter to efforts to achieve peace in the region - Albawaba.com
