KUWAITIS ANGERED BY ISRAEL PRODUCT IMPORTED FROM UAE

Fri 26 March 2021:

A state of popular anger has prevailed in Kuwait following the discovery of Israeli food products being sold in local markets after it was imported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Kuwaiti activists circulated on social media a photo of the Israeli-made hummus which they said was being sold in Kuwaiti cooperative societies after being imported from the UAE.

Social media users also circulated a copy of a letter addressed from a cooperative society to the Federation of Cooperative Societies in Kuwait, complaining about the arrival of the Israeli products demanding their withdrawal from local markets.

Last September, the UAE and Bahrain signed normalisation agreements with Israel and have since signed several cooperation agreements. Kuwait unanimously rejected making any such move.

In November, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry closed eight stores after receiving a complaint from a consumer indicating that a local company was selling goods made in Israel and referred the case to the Public Prosecution Office.

Days later, prominent Kuwaiti scholar Tareq Al-Suwaidan called for a boycott of Arab companies that deal with the Israeli occupation during a seminar organised by the UAE anti-normalisation group.