Talk:Arab League boycott of Israel

Deciphering Intent of Arab League
The first sentence quoted from the Arab League Council in "Ad-hoc boycott attempts of Jewish businesses" takes aim at Jewish products, but the second sentence makes reference to Zionist products. Is there any way of determing whether the intent of the Arab League was to boycott Israel and pro-Zionist businesses, or to boycott any business that is owned by Jewish people? It might seem trivial, but such a distinction might make for a smoother read. I myself did a double take when I read the last sentence in that section. PinkWorld (talk) 04:51, 5 December 2008 (UTC)Pink

destroy the Jewish state?
Cmon, we really want to say that an economic boycott was aimed at destroying Israel in WP's narrative voice? Thats just funny, but not important enough for me to make another edit about.  nableezy  - 19:19, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

arab boycott of USA department store
i typed in "arab boycott" into the wiki search box and got (re)directed to this page. so, a question fellow editors: what do we do with this information? it seems that it should go on this page, but this page seems dedicated to 'arab boycott of israel'. any ideas? thanks. Soosim (talk) 10:30, 18 December 2011 (UTC)
 * It should go here. --GHcool (talk) 20:47, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

"one of the wealthiest economies in the region"
I tagged this phrase, which is used to describe Israel, as disputed. The sentence is unsourced -- in fact, the majority of the article is unsourced -- so I couldn't check it for myself, but the statement seems unlikely to me.

Considering that "the region" includes the oil-rich Gulf states, is Israel really "one of the wealthiest economies in the region"? Reliable sources, please.

PS: For what it's worth, the sentence used to describe Israel as "one of the strongest economies in the region", a description that (while also unsourced) seems more credible to me. An economy built on a single commodity, no matter how valuable, likely isn't as strong as a diversified economy. 66.87.114.36 (talk) 04:46, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

What does "N/A" mean, in the Passport Restrictions table?
Does that mean "Not Available," i.e. the Wiki editors have not been able to ascertain a clear answer for that specific country? Or is it "Not Applicable," i.e. there are no passport restrictions for that country? Or something else? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/undefined#Passport_restrictions This is pretty basic in any writing: always spell out an abbreviation the first time you use it, or have a 'key' to any table or graphic. D3alnoor (talk) 00:18, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Snow White
Why would Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs be included in the boycott? Is this serious?? Mbshu (talk) 16:53, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 4 March 2017
This statistic quoted from Avi Shlaim's The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences is referencing the time surrounding the 1967 war, NOT 1948. The current state of the wikipedia article quotes the statistic as if 90% of Israeli oil was supplied through the Straits as of 1948 - which is not supported by the cited reference.

"At the time 90% of Israeli oil was supplied by Iran and imported through the Straits of Tiran.[9]" 62.157.43.244 (talk) 17:10, 4 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the template. Morphdog (t - c) 16:26, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

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Include a map?
Hi, do you think File:Arab Boycott map.svg could be included in the article? The map shows which countries had joined the Arab boycott by the year 1982, as reported by Gil Feiler in his book from 1998. --Enyavar (talk) 14:42, 13 July 2017 (UTC)


 * While I think a map might be helpful, I'm confused by that particular map. If, as it claims, it shows the states participating in the boycott at its peak in 1982, why does it include Egypt (which, it says, left the boycott in 1979) and states that joined the boycott after 1982? Is it instead trying to show every state that ever participated in the boycott? — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 03:00, 14 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Right, you found an error right away, thanks. The referenced year in Feiler was not 1982 but 1987 (page 40). Fixed in the description, but the map isn't ready yet I guess.
 * The exact boycott measures were different in each country, and some countries participated only in some years... Basically, a legend with more than a dozen colors would be needed; and/or a timebased animation. Instead I guess I will simply redraw the map in the borders of 1985 (another inconsistency so far, needs to be corrected) and rewrite the description so that it's "every state that participated at least partly in the boyott, betwen 1948 and 1987". Because you're right: Mali, Malaysia, Uganda were boycotting 1979, but no longer in 1987, according to Feiler. If you do know a source that makes it possible to more accurately pinpoint which country participated when, I'd be glad to read about it. --Enyavar (talk) 13:12, 14 July 2017 (UTC)


 * What might be most informative for a reader, I think, would be a map that highlighted all the states that participated in the boycott between 1948 (the establishment of Israel) and 1994 (when the GCC ended its participation), perhaps shading those states that participated only in some years or participated incompletely. I don't know of a source that has all that information in one place. — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 05:14, 15 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Me neither, so the next best thing should do it - 1987. Feiler seems to have done the research for 1979 and 1987, I assume his listing goes only for the economical boycott, but without knowing his methodology, I don't want to insert more names based on various other sources. There MAY be other countries in other years, but I can't tell. The diplomatic boycott had a lot more support (nearly 30 african countries threw out the Israeli embassies in the 1970ies, due to Libyan and Egyptian efforts). As we know, business in Japan, Korea and Canada were diligently following the boycott without an official state boycott. I don't feel comfortable introducing another color to the map for cases like that, and it's comparing apples and bananas. As we don't have surefire data for each year, the map only shows countries confirmed by Feiler. Is the map and it's legend okay now? --Enyavar (talk) 05:11, 17 July 2017 (UTC)


 * I think it looks good. I would suggest that you add a few words to the map's legend after Israel to clarify that it was the target of the boycott (this being the internet, somebody could come away thinking that Israel participated in the boycott of Israel ), but I think the map itself is fine. Thank you.
 * Please add it to the article at your earliest convenience. — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 02:54, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Hm, okay. I suggest someone inserts the map in section 1.3 (either moving the Israel map to another paragraph, or replacing it). The legend could be made like the first one in this paragraph, or possibly shorten the legend entries like in the second version. However, at my current rate of editing, my first convenience will be somewhen in 2022. Since 2007, I did 309 edits in the english namespace... --Enyavar (talk) 11:43, 19 July 2017 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you didn't qualify to edit the article under WP:ECP. I added the map. Thank you again. — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 00:40, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

Fix the reflinks
Hi, could someone fix all those olympicair-timatic reflinks in the article? There is basically 26 times the exactly same link listed. --Enyavar (talk) 13:12, 14 July 2017 (UTC)


 * The footnotes are actually all different calls of a Wikipedia template that used to show information from the IATA website about traveling on an Israeli passport. Here are the first few, which showed Algeria and Brunei:


 * Evidently, the IATA blocked Wikipedia, so the template's been temporarily linked to Olympic Airline's website, which reproduces the IATA data.
 * We could temporarily replace each call of the template with a URL similar to the following:
 * Evidently, the IATA blocked Wikipedia, so the template's been temporarily linked to Olympic Airline's website, which reproduces the IATA data.
 * We could temporarily replace each call of the template with a URL similar to the following:


 * https://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&page=visa&NA=IL&AR=00&PASSTYPES=PASS&DE=DZ&selDest=Algeria&selTrans=Use+ctrl-key+to+select+or+deselect+transit+point(s)+above&user=OLYMPIC&subuser=OLYMPICB2C (note the IL, DZ, and Algeria in the URL)
 * or we could write our own template (or try to fix the existing Timatic template). What solution do you think is best? — Malik Shabazz Talk/Stalk 05:31, 15 July 2017 (UTC)


 * The timaticweb.com link gives me a "500 Internal Server Error" anyway... --Enyavar (talk) 11:59, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Wonder Woman
Weren't there voices in Lebanon and some other places calling for a boycott of the movie "Wonder Woman" due to the actress playing the title role? Hobbitschuster (talk) 23:31, 5 August 2017 (UTC)


 * Sure, here's just an example of it, rebranding Gadot's sympathy towards terror victims as "hatred against Palestines". This is BDS action, not League boycott. --Enyavar (talk) 15:56, 7 August 2017 (UTC)


 * It was banned in Lebanon. This fact should be added to the article:


 * The Guardian: Wonder Woman banned in Lebanon due to Israeli lead, Gal Gadot
 * CNN: Wonder Woman' banned in Lebanon because lead actress is Israeli dindia (talk) 07:48, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

Pro Wrestling
In the article Professional wrestling in Israel, the line "Kevin Von Erich and his brother Mike Von Erich later came to Israel in the early 1980s. The Von Erich family were wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling which was carried in Israel on Middle East Television, on Saturday nights. " Were the Von Erichs blacklisted in Arab states for performing in Israel? --Fireantlers (talk) 06:22, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
 * I have no idea if complete copies of official blacklists were published anywhere - but they predate the Internet, changed annually, were kept in arabic, had ~10'000 entries already in the early 80ies, and for that reason were probably kept in complex file card systems or in outdated software formats. No quick Ctrl+F for a definite answer. Good luck digging through the CBO archives in Damascus, Syria. Maybe some regional office branches kept the complete archives as well? Depends how much they liked guarding their old paperwork. If you find digital copies of any kind, please link them here as a valuable source!
 * For that reason, I can only provide some guesses for you to contemplate:
 * First, they could have fallen under the general boycott without any direct blacklisting: Israel TV programs were certainly not welcome in its neighbour countries, though I have no idea how effective the blocking/jamming was. It's possible that receiving Israel broadcasts was pretty easy for Syrian or Jordanian families, but you need to either ask local people or read history studies to find out. To perform in Arab countries the Erichs would have had to either bribe officials or use extra passports. That said, I have no idea how popular pro-wrestling was in the Arab countries in that time anyway. [Wrestling itself was a sport included in the Pan Arab Games, but that was probably some codified form of Folk wrestling (?). A quick search indicates that pro-wrestling is quite popular today in several more developed Arab countries, but the 80ies were a totally different era, and pro-wrestling is still a very american sport.] Now, even if pro-wrestling was a major thing anywhere in the League: I'm certain that a promo tour through Syria, Iran and Israel in the same month, was as much out of the question as it is today. But an arrangement like "this year: Israel, next year: Morocco" could have been remotely possible.
 * Second, the Arab boycott was in many ways inconsequential and/or ineffective. To be actively blacklisted, you needed to have a high profile/popularity, or actively promote Israel, or matter to the boycott officials in some way. It depended on these officials across a dozen countries, and their interest in you, whether you got on their list or not. For this reason, it's even possible that the Ercihs were temporarily blacklisted only in (for example) Iran, Tunesia and Saudirabia, but noplace else.
 * Again, this is just general guessing. There are probably people who can answer your very specific question, but keep in mind that the boycott lasted for many years (in your case, you need to roughly check 1980 through 1995) and was an effort of many bickering nations (complete list in the article). Oh, and you better repeat your question here for obvious reasons. Best, --Enyavar (talk) 21:29, 18 November 2018 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 29 September 2019

 * Section Notable targets of the blacklist, Films


 * Wonder Woman (2017) was banned in Lebanon, Tunisia and Qatar, and partially in Jordan and Algeria, because its star, Gal Gadot, is Israeli.

118.91.43.192 (talk) 14:02, 29 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Refs
 * Yes check.svg Done Sceptre (talk) 23:33, 29 September 2019 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 3 October 2019

 * Section Notable targets of the blacklist, Films

Please remove the reference to Wonder Woman (see above), and by the way change the headline in that paragraph. Any "films that were at any time blacklisted in the Arab world"? Now that is too broad a subject, better phrase it like "films that were blacklisted through the Arab world because of the boycott". Reason: This article is about the Arab League boycott, which has died a quiet death by the late 1990ies. The CBO's authority in 2017 extends to... well, Syria. Maybe Lebanon. In the given sources (and other reports on Wonder Woman being banned in Lebanon and a few arab countries), there is nowhere the indication that this is a boycott issued by the Arab League, or by the CBO. Yes, it has been banned, but because of interest groups sympathisizing with BDS. The League has nothing to do with it. --Enyavar (talk) 09:32, 3 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Sceptre (talk) 10:08, 3 October 2019 (UTC)

Saudi Arabia and UAE
Since the introduction of the e-visa program (September 2019), the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage claims on their website that having an Israeli stamp on the passport does not disqualify someone from visiting Saudi Arabia.


 * I can confirm, by personal experience, that this is true. My passport is full of Israeli visa and I was allowed entry to Saudi without any discussion. The table should be updated. --79.218.233.232 (talk) 07:41, 19 August 2020 (UTC)

UAE is going to allow Israeli citizens visiting the country. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.43.141.100 (talk) 18:40, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

Arab league boycott? Shouldn’t it be Muslim league boycott?
There are countries that are not Arab that boycott Israel too. Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, etc.


 * The Arab League is a particular organization, it doesn't mean all Arab states. Zerotalk 09:30, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 1 January 2021
In this section, where it says "Fourteen countries do not accept Israeli passports", it should say "Thirteen countries do not accept Israeli passports..."--Watchlonly (talk) 13:26, 1 January 2021 (UTC)
 * ✅, thank you very much and Happiest of New Years to you and yours!  P.I. Ellsworth   ed.  put'r there 14:58, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: MIT 398 Intercultural International Communication
— Assignment last updated by Malharami (talk) 20:58, 2 November 2023 (UTC)


 * Hi, please note that the article is restricted to editors with "extended confirmed access". I wrote the sibling article for de-WP and sadly wasn't able to edit here. I suggestion caution with this topic, but am also looking forward for suggestions on how the topic may be improved - if you find errors, please provide extensive lists together with sources, so that other may do the corrections. Best of luck. --Enyavar (talk) 21:13, 5 November 2023 (UTC)

Vector version of Countries that reject Israeli passports.png available
is the vector version of and should be used in place of this raster image where the raster image contains information that could be stored more efficiently and/or accurately in the SVG format, as a vector graphic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thearones (talk • contribs) 09:55, 4 March 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 11 June 2024
In the section that says " As a result, Israel–Japan relations have been limited until the 1990s" should instead say " As a result, Israel–Japan relations were limited until the 1990s". Griffin6679 (talk) 23:44, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
 * ✅ M.Bitton (talk) 18:43, 14 June 2024 (UTC)