Israel Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon
and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan have proposed amendments to the anti-BDS
law to enable the sanctions. They are going to have a public hearing at which Israeli
citizens can voice their objections.
Before imposing sanctions on Amnesty
International, Kahlon is expected to invite senior officials from the
organization to a hearing. Amnesty International could also be sued for damages
for violating the anti-BDS law. [ix]
In what was described as "an unprecedented victory" for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a federal judge has blocked Kansas from enforcing a state law which punishes those who express support or engage in the boycott of Israel. The anti-BDS law, required that all Kansas state employees sign a certification guaranteeing they do not participate in the boycott of Israel.
The Federal Judge, issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing the law until resolution of a lawsuit filed in October 2017 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Esther Koontz, a public school teacher. The lawsuit is based on Koontz's adherence to the Palestinian call for BDS. Following her fellow members of the Mennonite Church USA and in solidarity with Palestinians, she decided to boycott all consumer products from both Israeli companies and those that operate in Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, Micah Kubic, director of the ACLU of Kansas, called the judge's ruling a "notable victory for the First Amendment" and protected speech. The ACLU Director said, "The government has no right telling people what they can and can't support, and this preliminary injunction will protect other Kansans from enduring the First Amendment violation that Ms. Koontz has endured." The ruling was the first of its kind on the judicial level to counter an escalation of anti-BDS measures passed by state lawmakers in twenty-four states with bipartisan support. Activists in several states have stopped similarly proposed legislation from becoming law. However, there are several federal anti-BDS bills that are before Congress. [x]
Another defeat for the Israeli anti-Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) campaign occurred where an attempt to force state contractors in Massachusetts to prove that they were not boycotting Israel. To quote the Palestine Legal press release on this topic, "Though not on its face an anti-BDS bill, as the coalition stated, "a substantial public paper trail shows that its actual target was the Palestinian civil society movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). As such, it was intended to inhibit the first amendment right to free speech through boycott action, a peaceful expression of dissent." [xi]
There also is a recent judgement of the Ontario Court of Appeal that approved a libel decision against Canadian journalist Ezra Levant for calling a young Muslim law student a terrorist and an anti-Semite. The award of $80,000 against Levant was upheld. [xii]
Another public relations setback for Israel's campaign against BDS is the nomination of the BDS Campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize. [xiii] Israel's policies toward the Palestinians are also being criticized by prominent Israeli politicians. The below comments are from the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin on systemic racism in Israeli society and published in The Times of Israel. [xiv]Israel's president fills a largely ceremonial role -- meeting with foreign dignitaries, representing the government at state funerals and other official gatherings. But the office's new occupant has embraced a challenge not inherent to the job: curbing what he sees as an epidemic of anti-Arab racism.
"Israeli society is sick, and it is our duty to treat this disease," Reuven Rivlin, 75, told a group of Israeli academics this week. [xv]
Here is another comment from the award winning Israeli journalist Gideon Levy.
Now Israel is discovering that it's no longer the center of attention as it always was before, and that the fate of its kidnapping victims no longer stops the world in its tracks, not even in the United States. The world is sick of Israel and its insanities. Unfortunately, the world has also lost interest in what happens here. When Israel was a more just country, the world identified with its victims. It continued to do so even when Israel became less just. But now, when Israeli rejectionism is hitting new heights and its oppression of the Palestinians is returning to what it was during the very worst periods, the world has started getting tired of it all...... [xvi]
President Rivlin is not the only senior Israeli politician that has spoken out about racism against Arabs in Israel. In 2008 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is quoted in the largest circulation newspaper in Israel, at the time, as follows:
The prime minister said that over the years the State maintained a policy of discrimination, thereby creating a vicious cycle. On the one hand, the Arab community was unable to create management mechanisms, while on the other hand, Israeli governments deprived Arabs of rights that could help them improve their quality of life, he said.
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