Only NO votes on the shameful anti-free speech/anti-BDS bill Blumenauer

Carson (IN)

Dingell

García (IL)

Grijalva

Jayapal

Lee (CA)

Massie

McCollum

Moore

Ocasio-Cortez

Omar

Pingree

Pocan

Rush

Tlaib

Watson Coleman — Jonathan "Boo and Vote" Cohn (@JonathanCohn) July 23, 2019 The anti-BDS laws are being proposed and promoted by Republicans who have made a political calculation about their conservative, evangelical base’s priorities. The conservative, evangelical movement was courted by the Israeli right-wing several decades ago . Even 35 years ago though, much of the American Jewish community understood what an alliance with conservative, evangelical movement meant:

But while many Jewish leaders have openly welcomed the evangelicals’ eagerness to build ties, others say they are uneasy. They say they harbor deep doubts about the wisdom of alliances with conservative Christian groups that, they feel, want ultimately to convert the Jews and, on many political issues, often hold profoundly different, more conservative points of view. — From 1983 article in www.nytimes.com/…

That list is a who’s-who of the most steadfast progressive voices in the House. The resolution seeks to undermine American’s right to use boycotts like the one used against apartheid South Africa. It was non-binding because a binding measure would be clearly unconstitutional.

The House, brushing aside Democratic voices of dissent over American policy in the Middle East, on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution condemning the boycott-Israel movement as one that “promotes principles of collective guilt, mass punishment and group isolation, which are destructive of prospects for progress towards peace.” The 398-to-17 vote, with five members voting present, came after a debate that was equally lopsided; no one in either party spoke against the measure. The House’s two most vocal backers of the boycott movement — Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, freshman Democrats and the first two Muslim women in Congress — did not participate in the floor debate. — www.nytimes.com/…

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement seeks to use non-violent means to end Israel’s rampant violation of Palestinians’s human rights.

What proponents of this bill are saying is that non-violent means of opposing Israel’s oppression of Palestinians are off the table. The only forms of protest they would allow are ineffective ones.

Proponents of the measure made the following argument:

“Boycotts have been previously used as tools for social justice in this very country,” said Representative Ted Deutch, Democrat of Florida and a backer of the resolution. “But B.D.S. doesn’t seek social justice. It seeks a world in which the state of Israel doesn’t exist.” — www.nytimes.com/…

Replace “Israel” with “apartheid South Africa” or “colonial India” and you’ll see that the supporters of this resolution are disingenuous in describing the non-violent opposition to Israel’s oppressive regime/system.

Darlier in the day, Rep. Rashida Tlaib spoke on the floor:

Tlaib delivered an emotional speech opposing the bill on the House floor. “I stand before you the daughter of Palestinian immigrants,” Tlaib said, “Parents who experienced being stripped of their human rights, the right to freedom of travel, equal treatment. So I can’t stand by and watch this attack on our freedom of speech and the right to boycott the racist policies of the government and the state of Israel.” — www.haaretz.com/…

Sadly, Palestinians simply do not figure in the political calculation of most Representatives. Which is why Israeli authorities act with impunity to destroy Palestinian bodies.

The military prides itself on regulations restricting the use in of live fire, while at the same time claiming that the law enforcement system will take action against soldiers who violate the regulations. These are are hollow and meaningless statements. https://t.co/AFYXi50tj2 — B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) July 18, 2019

Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar plan to visit the West Bank next month. Rep. Tlaib will be meeting family there. Israel has in place a law barring supporters of BDS from the country. There was a lengthy controversy over whether the Congresswomen would be allowed to visit the West Bank, which has been under a military occupation for over 50 years.

Tlaib (D-Mich.), who is Palestinian American, has plans to visit her relatives in the West Bank over Congress’s August recess. Omar and Tlaib, the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, are supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for individuals and companies to boycott Israel over its policies toward Palestinians. This week, Omar sponsored a resolution with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) to affirm Americans’ right to use “boycotts to further civil rights at home and abroad.” Though the language of her resolution is broad, it is intended to oppose efforts on Capitol Hill to protect states that ban companies participating in the BDS movement. Tlaib is the third co-sponsor of the resolution — www.washingtonpost.com/…

The state level anti-BDS bills have already resulted in dismissals of ordinary people from their jobs. They’re being challenged in court as unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment’s free speech protections.

Ilhan Omar Introduces Resolution to Defend Americans’ Right to Boycott Legislation is unveiled as Omar plans visit to Israel next month, testing Israeli anti-boycott law. Text cites boycott of Nazi Germany as example for other boycotts of ‘Americans of conscience’ — www.haaretz.com/…

— @subirgrewal