Americans in general do not like anti-BDS laws nearly as much as Congress does: just 22.5% of American adults polled favor anti-boycott measure. But Washington and many state legislatures are pushing through legislation that would criminalize boycott of Israel.
As Congress tackles urgent issues of reopening government and setting the budget for the country, it takes the time to prioritize a foreign country: H.R.648 contains assurances that Israel will receive $3.8 billion for arms, and funding for refugee resettlement; the bill also includes threats to de-fund the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and any future state of Palestine–if US demands (dictated by the Israel lobby) are not met.
Israel partisans are pushing bills that impede Americans’ right to boycott. These are being enacted in state legislatures and introduced in Congress… while politicians are poised to give Israel even more money…
Katherine Franke writes in the New York Review of Books that while Palestinian rights are getting more attention than ever, advocates of justice still face accusations of “anti-Semitism,” harassment, and most of all, censorship on college campuses….
Activist and scholar Angela Davis is articulate and compelling as she speaks with Amy Goodman about injustice in Palestine and the injustice of those groups trying to shut down dialogue. She is gratified that the outcome of her controversial loss of the Shuttlesworth Award includes a robust conversation about justice for Palestinians; she also notes the fact that many groups, including some Jewish groups, support her.
As a result of public pressure, the Vermont State Police and the police department for Northampton Massachusetts have decided to pull out of the ADL-sponsored, all-expenses-paid “Resiliency and Counterterrorism” program in Israel. The seminar highlights methods Israel uses to “thwart terrorism within its framework of a democratic and multicultural nation.”
NY State Senator Jeff Klein seems torn between two viewpoints: one says “all people are created equal, with certain unalienable rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The other, incompatible with the first: “Israel, right or wrong.”
In an article today, The Forward calls New York State Senator Simcha Felder “the most powerful man In New York.” Felder called a Palestinian professor’s inclusion in a lecture program “an abomination,” has co-sponsored New York legislation against boycotting Israel, and In 2016 wrote: “Today’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is nothing less than a political Kristallnacht.”
AIPAC helped craft a bill making BDS a felony, subject to a minimum civil penalty of $250K and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison; many of its cosponsors have no idea what the bill contains.
Legislation against companies boycotting Israel is being enacted in state legislatures, cities, and at the national level. The American Jewish Committee and other Israel advocacy groups tout their successes, including getting all 50 governors to sign an anti-BDS statement.