Algerian MPs presented a bill to Parliament this week aimed at criminalizing all economic and commercial transactions between Algerian companies and foreign companies with links to Israel.
While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict divides actors in the international world, the Algerian Parliament wishes to activate all economic boycott mechanisms against Israel. Last Monday, November 11, a group composed of around sixty Algerian deputies submitted to Parliament a bill which includes the prohibition of any standardization or commercial and economic transaction between public and private Algerian companies and foreign companies which “finance Israel,” said the pan-Arab news site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Abdessalam Bashagha, one of the deputies behind the bill, indicated to our colleagues that the bill had been finalized and that the necessary signatures had been collected to submit a parliamentary proposal. “The law aims to strengthen the official position of the Algerian state which rejects any economic or commercial relationship, in whatever form and under whatever name, with the “Zionist entity”,” he said.
Offenders liable to imprisonment
While no Israeli companies currently operate in Algeria, the bill aims to introduce strict regulations to close legal loopholes and prevent Israeli products or partnerships from establishing themselves in the Algerian market.
The same text provides for “imprisonment sentences of ten to twenty years for any person who carries out transactions or relations with (…) agents of Israel, either directly or through an agent of the State of Israel,” noted Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The only two companies operating in Algeria listed by the Palestinian movement called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) are Carrefour and AXA, due to “their proven links with Israeli companies”, indicated the pan-Arab news site The New Arab .
A joint venture links the French multinational AXA to the National Investment Fund (FNI) owned by the Algerian state, while Carrefour operates in Algeria through an alliance with the Algerian-Saudi investment company Asicom jointly owned by Algerian public funds. and Saudi, indicated Courrier-international, which recalled that last April, a few days after its opening, the first KFC restaurant in Algeria had to close its doors following strong protests popular.
Despite this proposed law, since the outbreak of war between the Hamas terrorist group and the Israeli army, The New Arab has argued that the Algerian government does not authorize the holding of demonstrations on its territory, including in support of the civilians from Gaza.
