A band of Syrian deputies and intellectuals met and after much debate recommended a boycott of Uncle Sam’s export in order to get back at America for the economic sanctions it has passed, matching a foolish decision with an equally foolish one.
The US government portrayed the penalty as effective — but in reality it is just a media firecracker of purely symbolic value, for the simple reason that American exports to Syria are very few. Some of the penalties are also meaningless, such as boycotting Syrian Airlines and not allowing its planes to land at US airports, which is ridiculous since Syrian Airlines doesn’t even cross the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, some products like food, medicine and oil are exempt.
The Syrians in turn have been equally fulsome about the terrible blow they are dealing the US economy. But they couldn’t scare Europe, let alone the big elephant that is the United States. Consider the fact that Spain’s entire economy, which is smaller than the New York City’s, is actually larger than the economy of all Arab countries combined. Can Syria, with a commercial balance of no more than $500 million hurt the global market?
The delegates must come clean and say that the boycott has symbolic meaning only. As such has a sound logic, allowing ordinary citizens have their say, even though the actual effect of the boycott may be negligible economically and politically. One Syrian said the boycott had real teeth and would take a large bite out of the American economy — $300 million, he said. This merely goes to show his ignorance of the size of the global economy, or perhaps it demonstrates his love of exaggeration.
US sanctions will be ineffective because the two countries aren’t partners in anything, and the Syrian boycott will not turn a single hair on the American elephant’s hide. The two parties will need to find an alternative to this pillow fight and start a dialogue on the issues. I don’t really understand why they haven’t done so yet but have allowed their differences to accumulate although they are a lot less complex than many others around the world. Neither of the two countries parliamentarians is going to resolve the issues: It is a matter for the leaders. Often the solution comes through the smallest things — such as when, after the hijacking of the Achille Lauro, Syria helped return the body of the handicapped American whom the Abu Abbas group threw overboard. That helped reopen the lines of communication between the two countries.
The world then was much more complicated than it is today.
