A pair of laws currently making their way through the United States Congress would impose criminal sanctions on Americans who support an economic boycott of Israel or its illegal West Bank settlements. The bill follows in the footsteps of, and in some was surpasses the dozens of American states that have passed their own anti-boycott laws in recent years.
The Senate bill, S. 720, known as the “Anti-Israel Boycott Act,” also goes far beyond what even the Israeli government is willing to do to counter the grassroots movement to end the occupation and achieve certain basic rights for Palestinians. Indeed, Israel has its own anti-boycott law on the books but it not criminal, and it does not directly limit the right to call for such boycotts. Even in Israel calling to boycott the country, its institutions, its citizens, and its settlements are still considered protected speech. The punishment for violating the proposed American law, on the other hand, would be hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and/or up to a year in prison.
“This bill would impose civil and criminal punishment on individuals solely because of their political beliefs about Israel and its policies,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote to U.S. Senators this week, adding that such punishments would be “a direct violation of the first amendment.” Even requesting information about companies that are boycotts would become illegal, the ACLU noted.
You can read the rest @
http://lobelog.com/americas-bds-law-attack-on-far-more-than-free-speech/
OK, so we'll have to stop the BDS movement.
That would be fine with me, as long as Israel is required to follow ALL international laws and ALL United Nations resolutions.
Or is EVERYONE now defined as anti-Semitic?
And frankly I don't expect the US Senate to actually respect our constitution when it comes to this issue. This idiotic statement typifies what is happening:
"A lot of the co-sponsors are pretty strongly committed to the freedom of speech," [Senator] Cardin said.
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/25/cardin-amend-israel-boycott-bill-bds/
Dear Dumbass - Every US Representative, Senator, judge, and member of the executive branch is SWORN to uphold the US Constitution, including its free speech provisions. If they fail to do so because they don't want to offend Israel, they should be replaced.
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