Proposed Arab Economic Sanctions on Syria

Outlines of the proposed economic sanctions on Syria have begun showing up in the Saudi press:

1. Prohibition of traveling to, from and across the Syrian territories for Arabs
2. Prohibition of bank transfers to and from Syria
3. Freezing Syrian funds in Arab countries
4. Freezing all work in Syrian projects that involve Arab partnerships
5. Freezing Arab trade relations with Syria
6. Suspending Syria from the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA)

These sanctions might as well have been aimed at Lebanon. Just look at the first proposal, it’s like completely killing off Lebanon’s export routes. Not to mention the blow to our services industry and banking. I’ve argued this before and I’ll say it again: We have to fight this as much as we can, even if we hate the guts of the Syrian dictator.

The Saudis seem aware that these are extremely harsh and blanket measures that would punish the Syrian and Lebanese peoples as well. But it seems they have decided to open with these proposals. Perhaps because they are intended as a deterrent to scare the regime off without needing to be implemented (but we’ve established that playing chicken with Baathists is futile), or they are meant to be toned down until Arab unanimity is achieved.