(2 of 2)
Sim Sam. That boomerang effect helps explain why individual governments enforce the Arab League's current blacklist of some 700 foreign firms (including 200 in the U.S.) with self-serving inefficiency. Lebanon, Libya and Saudi Arabia have been toughest, Nasser's U.A.R. notoriously soft. The U.S. movie Cleopatra, starring blacklisted Elizabeth Taylor (for espousing the Jewish religion), was freely shown in Cairo. Lebanese television still carries commercials for banned Schick razor blades, which are easy to buy.
Frank Sinatra films are barred from Lebanon, but his records—also blacklisted—are widely available. Actor Sal Mineo was on the list for a time after appearing in Exodus, but cleared himself by playing an Arab nationalist in Escape from Zahrain. Jantzen bathing suits are prohibited in Kuwait and Libya, but sold elsewhere throughout the Middle East. Hilton and Sheraton Hotels operate—and attract tourist dollars—in both Israel and Arab countries, but Mohammed Mahgoub, director of the Arab Boycott Office, excuses their operation on the grounds that the chains "only manage, and don't own" their Israel properties. Lebanon refused to let Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty be shown because the horse in the film had an Old Testament name: Samson. The local boycott director wanted the name changed to Simson, but Disney declined —because that would have required a new sound track.