NOW THE ISRAEL LOBBY WANTS TO CRIMINALIZE NON-VIOLENT PROTEST

Every day and in every way the minions of Satan, otherwise known as Israel supporters spread cruelty and barbarism wherever they tread.

Bill making it a federal crime to support BDS sends shockwaves through progressive community

Adam Schiff, one of the supporters of bill making it a crime to support BDS

There is only one story in the news, for followers of the Israel/Palestine conflict, and that is Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Grim’s report at the Intercept yesterday on new legislation in the Congress that would criminalize support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Yes, criminalize.

The bill is such a crude example of overreach by the Israel lobby that it is sure to backfire on its supporters as Greenwald and Grim’s report ricochets around the Democratic Party:

But now, a group of 43 senators — 29 Republicans and 14 Democrats — wants to implement a law that would make it a felony for Americans to support the international boycott against Israel, which was launched in protest of that country’s decades-old occupation of Palestine. The two primary sponsors of the bill are Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is the punishment: Anyone guilty of violating the prohibitions will face a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison.

The proposed measure, called the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), was introduced by Cardin on March 23. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that the bill “was drafted with the assistance of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.” Indeed, AIPAC, in its 2017 lobbying agenda, identified passage of this bill as one of its top lobbying priorities for the year:

The bill’s co-sponsors include the senior Democrat in Washington, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, his New York colleague Kirsten Gillibrand, and several of the Senate’s more liberal members, such as Ron Wyden of Oregon, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Maria Cantwell of Washington.

There is similar legislation in the House, also sponsored by liberal heroes.

And the ACLU has opposed the act. It writes:

The ACLU wrote to members of the Senate to urge them to oppose and refrain from co-sponsoring the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (H.R. 1697/S. 720). The impacts of the legislation would be antithetical to free speech protections enshrined in the First Amendment and we urged members to oppose the legislation in the absence of significant revisions.

The Intercept notes that it was valiant of the ACLU to oppose the measure– “Even the bravest of organizations often steadfastly avoid any controversies relating to Israel” — and then does the yeoman journalistic labor of asking liberal Congresspeople whether they accepted the ACLU position. So far, no takers!

The Intercept also documented that a lead supporter, Senator Ben Cardin, had no idea what was in his bill, “particularly insisting that it contains no criminal penalties.” The piece contains an audio of an interview with Cardin.

What I can add to this story: If anything announces that a South Africa-style struggle has come to the U.S. over Israel, this story does. BDS is a nonviolent movement to put pressure on Israel to respect Palestinian human rights; and it arose 12 years ago from Palestinian activists because governments had failed to apply that pressure. All U.S. government pressure is on Israel’s side, as this bill shows. Israel vehemently opposes BDS because BDS has been effective; it has worked to put pressure on Israel and transform the politics of Israel around the world. Witness this bill. Benjamin Netanyahu gives speeches slamming BDS over and over, as an existential threat. Because he knows BDS helped to bring down apartheid South Africa.

This bill is the work of the Israel lobby. It was drafted by one of the lead Israel-support groups, AIPAC– “one of the most powerful, and pernicious, lobbying forces in the country,” as the Intercept puts it. Greenwald and Grim raise the issue of the American people’s interest:

In what conceivable sense is it of benefit to Americans to turn them into felons for the crime of engaging in political activism in protest of a foreign nation’s government?

I would answer that question frankly by explaining that the bill is about the Israel lobby’s presence inside the Democratic Party, and therefore of the role of conservative Zionist Jews inside the Democratic Party. The efforts by many to claim that the Israel lobby is also evangelical Christians (lately Paul Pillar at Lobelog) is pure deception when it comes to the Democratic Party. Evangelical Christians don’t tell Schumer and Gillibrand how to vote on stem-cell research or abortion, and they don’t tell them how to vote on Israel either. No, the organized Jewish community does.

BDS could be criminalized by the US Congress, by Carlos Latuff

Older Jews tend to be huge ideological supporters of Israel. Ben Cardin goes to synagogues and tells other older Jews that Palestinian statehood is “anti-American.” Schumer has called himself the “Schomer” or guardian of Israel and said that there is a Jewish interest in supporting Israel. A year ago Stephanie Schriock of Emily’s List and JJ Goldberg of the Forward described the “gigantic” and “shocking” degree of the Democratic Party’s reliance on Jewish wealth for campaign contributions.

Ultimately, this is a story about the fight inside Jewish life over Zionism and support for Israel. I believe we will win this fight, and that this legislation will help us. The legislation will shock many civil-liberties-loving Jews. The Intercept story will force legislators to redraft the legislation.

And, most important: a diverse coalition of human-rights-loving Democrats are enraged by this legislation and are organizing against AIPAC’s role in the party. Call it the Keith Ellison wing, the Sanders wing– young Jews, young Latinos, blacks, women — they want a more progressive policy on Israel and many of them support BDS. Bernie Sanders did not attend the AIPAC conference in 2016, because his base opposed such pandering, and that base is fighting for the heart of the party.

Lastly, remember this story and the frank declaration of support for a foreign nation by legislators the next time you hear about the insidious influence of Russia in our politics. As the Intercept notes, “Among the co-sponsors of the bill are several of the politicians who have become political celebrities by positioning themselves as media leaders of the anti-Trump #Resistance, including three California House members who have become heroes to Democrats and staples of the cable news circuit: Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff, and Eric Swalwell.”

Adam Schiff is worthy of special mention, as David Bromwich points out to me. “He is among the scores of obedient Democrats co-sponsoring the bill. Schiff has a high reputation in liberal circles, but he voted for the Iraq war, supported the Saudi intervention in Yemen, said the assassination of Qaddafi was ‘an end to the first chapter of another popular revolution,’ and approved of Trump’s bombing of Syria. On foreign policy he is a believer in the conventional wisdom of the Cold War and the War on Terror, that’s all; but his opinions have taken on an outsize importance since he is now routinely accepted as the party’s outstanding authority on Russia. He knows Russia about as well as he knew Iraq and Libya.”

www.mondoweiss.net

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art
art

Would it be rude to say “FUCK THEM”?

Southern Sage
Southern Sage

Fuck these kikes. I will boycott Israel if I damn well feel like it. I have had about enough of that shitty little quasi-country. I saw some punk American Jew on TV bragging about running off to join the Israeli Army special forces. The little creep should be caged with some 300 pound DuShawn and see how far his Krav Maga gets him. This “law” is a j0ke, of course. Even the seder we call a Supreme Court will laugh at it. I like it, though. The enemy is getting desperate. The goyim know.

Southern Sage
Southern Sage

I see we have an Israeli troll at work on TBP.

Southern Sage
Southern Sage

OMG! I just read this article again and saw the vomit-inducing pizza-faced visage of Schiff, the kosher asshole from California. Thank God Americans are slowly waking up to these vipers in their midst.

rhs jr
rhs jr

Voltaire: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize”

Pauncho
Pauncho

I would never encourage anyone to boycott Israeli products, such as: razor blades, Dead Sea epsom salt, fruit,or that pos “soda stream”. They are really struggling right now, on that SIX BILLION DOLLARS we send them every fucking year.

llpoh
llpoh

$3.8 billion, not $6. Should be zero, as it should be for all nations.

JerseyCynic

so…. Rep. Joe Kennedy III is the co-sponsor of this Bill.
https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2017/07/19/rep-joe-kennedy-iii-reviewing-controversial-israel-anti-boycott-bill-he-supports-following-aclu-concerns

this must be his final AIPAC Litmus Test?

just like his Great-Uncle’s back in 1960
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=74217
Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, Zionists of America Convention, Statler Hilton Hotel, New York, NY

i forget
i forget

See the vidal\buckley clip, “cultural space” thread. Color of law – “criminalization” – ain’t new, and all who have wielded the pens backed by swords have engaged in it. Shortcutters, via magic words, in pinstripes, for the prisonstripers under their wardenship.

llpoh
llpoh

This Bill Amendment is not aimed at individuals per se:

“The bill prohibits U.S. persons engaged in interstate or foreign commerce from:

requesting the imposition of any boycott by a foreign country against a country which is friendly to the United States; or supporting any boycott fostered or imposed by an international organization, or
requesting imposition of any such boycott, against Israel.”

My reading of that is that you can boycott to your heart’s content. What you cannot do is ask others to do the same.

There are many such laws out there. Want to deny service, sales, housing to blacks? Uh-oh. Jews? Gays? Muslims? Uh-oh. All kinds of anti-boycott laws already exist. This is just one more in a long line of such.

The Export Administration Act of 1979 already includes these boycott provisions. “”Those laws discourage, and in some circumstances, prohibit U.S. companies from furthering or supporting the boycott of Israel sponsored by the Arab League, and certain Muslim countries, including complying with certain requests for information designed to verify compliance with the boycott. ” The Amendment to the Bill being proposed adds more restrictions and specifics, but the law already exists and is on the books.

These laws have been in place since 1979. Nothing new to see here.

monger
monger

The jewish supporters whine a lot about a lot of things, no wonder they become despised over time… buy our shit or we jail you is it now ? well why not, you force us to buy healthcare no ?
After American burns the Israelis may find themselves up shit creek without a paddle.
Kind of deserve it.

llpoh
llpoh

monger – that is not what the Bill amendment says. You can boycott all you want. You cannot try to get others to boycott if you are involved in interstate or international commerce.

The Constitutional commerce clause allows a lot of things – including the healthcare bill known as Obamacare.

BL
BL

We should be a good example to the world, be mindful of who is causing the chaos (rigging financial markets/shipping in musloids and Somalis/using the American taxpayer as their bitch) you get the picture, so spend your money (personally) to enrich those who benefit YOU.

That is no different than not purchasing Chinese food products. No one in their right mind would buy any food items from China if they value their health.

TampaRed
TampaRed

changing the subject from bds for a minute and talking chinese food,we need harsh laws that are harshly enforced when it comes to imported food,especially from china and 3rd world countries-
huge amounts of food are grown in waste water,adulterated,or completely mislabeled-
china is the worst offender but it happens all over the world–

hardscrabble farmer

Your citation of the Commerce clause is unconvincing.

In a global economy EVERYONE is “involved in interstate or international commerce”, so what it actually does is suppress the first amendment right to free speech.

I’d be interested in hearing how anyone who purchases any good from a foreign nation or neighboring state isn’t “involved in interstate or international commerce”. Their purchase of anything from a bottled water to a box of diapers constitutes “commerce”.

Let’s hear what George Washington had to say about this very topic.

“The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.

…a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.”

Sounds apropos.

i forget
i forget

Nature, red in tooth and commerce claws.
Just another speed trap.

rhs jr
rhs jr

llpoh, I’ve no ax to grind with you; but, it seems wrong to tell a person OR a business it has no right to boycott anything (even me) if the owners want to. To damn many rules like: you must rent to, cook for, photograph, make bouquets for flaming fudge packers, BLM dindos, communist and Democrats etc. If I refused to serve someone, then they should be free to boycott me and peacefully encourage others to boycott me also to their hearts content. Is it a free country if diverse opinions are outlawed; if peaceful protest actions are illegal? Hell no! I’m a Good old American Rebel and unconstitutional infringements on my Rights might mean nothing to Yankee Pussies but it means war to me: Just because some momma’s boy doesn’t like something and makes a rule doesn’t mean Men are going to get on their knees and obey it. If the law says I can’t even complain or boycott something, then I want to burn that something down and the law with it (or even worse).

Llpoh
Llpoh

Rhs – never said I support the damn bill. Quite the contrary. And as you, and I, point out, those type laws are already plentiful. They can and do dictate who you can and cannot sell to, what you can and cannot sell, where you can sell it, etc.

However, the misinformation herein needed correcting. It is not targetted at individuals, but business. Individuals are protected by the first. Businesses can be screwed legally left, right and center.

rhs jr
rhs jr

Thanks; you are really a good and smart man. I think we need to fix the government’s rules that requires businesses to serve some liberal government ideology. Amend 3 says government cannot force citizens to quarter soldiers; it should also apply to forcing people and businesses to provide services they don’t want to. Already some jerk says we are not free to peacefully assemble except when, where and how the government says; and we cannot peacefully protest certain things (BS). The SCOTUS said Corporations are persons but they are not protected by the First Amend? Many businesses are failing because the SCOTUS ruled they have to serve whoever comes through the door and provide whatever service they demand. Sometimes what comes through the door drives out normal business or is hostile. We are no longer free to serve our customers as we see fit; we are required to serve the government (and whatever some bureaucrats dictate). Until businesses are emancipated, the economy will continue to be enslaved and suffer.

Nitzakhon
Nitzakhon

BDS is not a “peaceful group” trying to get the Fakestinians a homeland.

BDS is a genocidal organization whose motto, “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” is a call for the annihilation of Israel and another Holocaust.

While people have every right to boycott Israel, since we do have freedom of association, don’t put lipstick on the genocide and call it a peaceful movement.

rhs jr
rhs jr

A real racist crime was committed here. A bar in Perry Fl had two rooms: 1) pictures of some Whites on the wall & country music 2) pictures of some Blacks on the wall, whatever Blacks call music and Communist Propaganda (MSM TV). Customers could freely go either way. Some Black activist called NYC and Jessie and Al showed up and sued because the SCOTUS said Separate but Equal is Racist. A jury found the owner guilty and the fine put him out of business. During Reconstruction II, either you become Black or you become Pariah.

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