In a very contentious vote yesterday, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill outlawing calls to boycott either Israel in general or the settlements in the occupied territories in particular, allowing lawsuits against them without any proof of damages.
Yesterday’s vote gave way quickly to reactions domestically, as opposition groups plan to contest the constitutionality of the new law in Israel’s high court. At the same time, the current far-right government is moving forward with another bill that would start formal inquiries against the opposition.
But the boycott law itself is the current issue, and to that end a lawsuit is already moving forward, with Soviet-born MP Alex Miller (Yisrael Beiteinu) announcing plans to sue opposition MP Ahmed Tibi for comments supporting a boycott of the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
There is, of course, no evidence that Tibi’s comments did any economic damage to Ariel in general, let alone Miller, but that is the point of the new law: no evidence is needed for the lawsuit.
Perhaps the most interesting criticism of the new law came from the US State Department, which insisted that the anti-boycott law amounted to a violation of the “basic democratic right” of freedom to protest. This is interesting because while not broadly enforced, the US already has its own law banning boycotts of Israel, passed in 1977, which goes even farther than Israel’s own government dared to attempt. The US law actually allows for decade-long prison sentences for boycotting Israel or aiding in the boycott.
Boycott Israel.., if US and or EU want to have peace in Middle East.., then they need to boycott Israel totally without any restrictions. Boycott Israel.
If I was a cartoonist I would draw a satirical cartoon showing a police officer searching someone, checking their pockets, their shirt tab, their jeans patch, their backback, finding nothing, then arresting the person being searched for having no Israeli products on them.
However I am not a cartoonist so I wont do that.
Israelis and americans are two sides of the coin. Each other consolidates their dictotorial behaviour.
Forget Palestinians they will get nothing except killings like america is killing Pakistanis through drone attacks.
Both the countries are defiant and brutality is in their nature.
They don,t match with human beings are worst creatures and people will die.
You mean the USG has taken a hypocritical position? I wonder if the State Dept was even aware of that ancient law?
The State Dept's "current" position is the correct position. Perhaps they might find a way to remove the 1977 law from the books – if the "Israel Firsters" would allow it – which would definitely not be likely.
I agree – boycott everything Israeli – especially allowing Bibi and his thugs into this country.
Cleetus, don't bogart that pipe…pass it on.
There is a very substantial difference between the US law prohibiting boycotts against Israel and that of the one they have passed. That is that the US law prohibits participation in a boycott of Israel, only if it is sponsored by a foreign country, i.e initiated by an Arab country. The law passed in Israel does not distinguish between a home grown boycott and a foreign sponsored one. Just thought l would share that with you. I also agree, we should boycott them all and stop breast feeding them our tax dollars.
the constitutionality of the new law '
What a crock. Israel does not have a constitution that I am aware of. I find it interesting that in 1934 the zionist elected to boycott German products but they make laws to do what they did illegal. It is my money and if I elected to spend it in one method or another it is my business. I find the Israel government is just silly. They just passed a law that the arab family much pay for the destruction of their homes when an Israel desires to take the land owned by the arabs. Usually they knock down the homes because they do not have building permits but they fail to state that in the 68 years of Israel an arab has never received a building permit despigte hundreds of thousand applications. Somehow all the hundreds of thousand of applications have some technical error while request for permit from people of the correct religion are rubber stamped.
The biggest problem for Israel is head cheer leaders of the zionist movement like Ruppurt Murdock are now known as slime. They are faced more and more with a word that gets information out immediate so they cannot doctore the story.
Israel's enemies are more racist than Israel is.
A muslim in Israel has it better than an arab jew.
pure fiction.
ALIFATE and/or phi G and whatever other screen names you go by: you must be a graduate of the Israeli School of Hasbara that teaches that if you repeat a lie enough times, eventually it becomes true.
We are viewing the making of "the modern police state" where personal freedoms are eroded back and individual expression is muted. Bahrain recently silenced peaceful protesters without hardly a word from the US government so don't expect anything more for Israel's stupid actions. Why aren't we pressing for a secular Israel where everyone has the right to vote and say what they believe just as we are pushing for it in all the Muslim countries? A Zionist Israelli state is much more dangerous than all the Muslim Brotherhoods folded together.
There is only one country on the planet that I consciously avoid products from – Israel. They already get far too much of my money via government theft and foreign aid and they are underserving of anything but condemnation.
But Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East ! End ALL US Foreign Aid to the Mideast
Israel's enemies are more rascist than Israel is.
windex is not for drinking my friend….
Sure, if that makes you happy.
..Israeli firsters have a mandated oath to injustice, bigotry and farcical religious dogma. Critical dissent is a must especially against colonial occupiers such as the USA, and Israel. They have no respect for human rights, international law, and make it policy to start egregious criminal war's than negotiate a peaceful outcome. Boycott both of these horrendous neanderthals!!
Israel and America are not even remotly democratic.They are countrys that future countrys that will learn exactly how not to act.The last to counrys in the world I would not want to live in under any curcumstance.Israel is the holy land but the government in contol now is fare from holy.Cant belive people so unholy are in control of the holyist place on earthy.
Apartheid.
The Zionist Entity is the worst enemy Jews have and will culminate in the complete destruction of the global economic, political, and tribal existentialist construct by which an attempt to subjugate the entire human race is being attempted. May God deliver us , Jews and the rest of the Human Race from Zionism. There will be no slave planet in the future. There is only one insurrection. I buy nothing made in Israel if so marked. The Jewish people are lied to also. They are terrorised by Zionists fear mongers to embrace a pathological mind set which makes their position in the world increasingly adversarial with the rest of the world far more dangerous.
The only democracy in the Middle East(tm). Gotta love that! If they keep outlawing any and all behavior that is critical of the Zionist actions of the State of Israel, pretty soon, they're going to outlaw themselves out of existence. Ha ha!\
I like the mention of "Soviet born" MP Alex Miller. Nice touch. Surely one of the leading lights of Israel taking it backwards in time.
The only democracy in the middle east ™ will ensure it stays that way by:
1. Undermining democratic aspirations in nearby Arab nations
2. Undermining its own so-called democracy or
3. Changing the definition of what democracy means altogether to reflect the current intolerant idiot road that they are on.
When the “israeli spring” gets underway as Jews openly resist a racist, totalitarian zionist government, which side will all the “israel-firsters” and their bought puppets in the US government, media, justice system, …. be on?
I guss the Hasblabla dept in Israel pays real lousy. Because why would a hasbranik say Arabs live better than Jews in Israel? The Arabs do real work and bring in good money and the Jews waste their time as cheap labour, trying to sell fabricated lies to the world. Ha ha ha basses