Hikind Reintroduces Anti-BDS Bill to NY Assembly

[King_David]

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) and his colleagues are working on a bill to prevent New York State’s pension fund from doing business with companies that boycott Israel. The bill already has the support of more than a dozen Assembly Members on both sides of the aisle and follows on the overwhelming success of a similar bill that was unanimously passed in the Illinois legislature and is set to be signed by the State’s Governor.

“Thanks to a well-oiled propaganda machine, Israel is a uniquely vilified nation state,” Hikind said. “The BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), the strategy of economic warfare, is rooted in anti-Semitism and a denial of Israel’s right to exist. It’s purpose is to delegitimize Israel.

“There’s no BDS movement against any other country. It’s time for New York State to make it clear where we stand. I applaud the lawmakers in Illinois who unanimously recognized the implicit lawlessness of boycotting Israel and I am proud to raise my voice, along with my colleagues in the Assembly, in support of ending the unethical, disingenuous, and frankly racist boycott against this legitimate nation and its people,” the Democratic Assemblyman added.




http://jpupdates.com/2015/05/20/hikind-new-york-should-not-do-business-with-those-who-boycott-israel/

[guillaumeb]

1. Yet another attempt to protect Israel from the results of its illegal occupation!

From the article:

"The bill’s civil libertarian opponents say it is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. “Basically, political boycotts are protected under the First Amendment,” said Maria LaHood, Senior Staff Attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the civil liberties groups leading the fight against the bill. “The state can’t deny funding in order to suppress speech based on a particular viewpoint, in this case advocating for a boycott of Israel or Israeli academic institutions.”

“It’s incompatible with the principles of academic freedom and free speech,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “In our society the response to bad ideas is not to suppress them or punish them, but to dispute them.”

Both LaHood and Lieberman said they expected their organizations would challenge the bill in court if it becomes law.

Klein rejected claims that his bill would violate the First Amendment. “I believe the ASA can’t hide behind the First Amendment to make a political statement that interferes with intellectual freedom,” he said. The bill, he argued is “very narrowly tailored,” and makes exceptions for boycotts involving state sponsors of terrorism, labor disputes, or “protesting unlawful discriminatory practices.”

Read more:
http://forward.com/news/israel/192424/bill-targeting-israel-boycott-bounces-back-in-new/

My take:
There are many US politicians who are confused about which country they represent. Many of these "protectors of Israel" are the recipients of donations from various US Jewish lobbying groups. These bills are the payback for the donations. But will they survive a court challenge?

[shira]

2. Your take sounds like the dual loyalty canard...

My take:
There are many US politicians who are confused about which country they represent. Many of these "protectors of Israel" are the recipients of donations from various US Jewish lobbying groups. These bills are the payback for the donations. But will they survive a court challenge?

It's not that BDS threatens to end the occupation.

It won't.

Israel won't be bullied into allowing Hamas to set up camp within a few feet of residential neighborhoods once the W.Bank is evacuated. It turns out BDS isn't helping the Palestinians at all. It allows the Palestinian leadership to believe they can hold out for as long as it takes, rejecting each and every 2-state peace proposal by Israel, in the hopes that their western friends in BDS will help them try to attain their goal of a majority Palestinian state with Jews as 2nd or 3rd class citizens - if they're allowed to live there at all.

[guillaumeb]

3. If BDS is not working,

why is it provoking so much concern in the Israeli government?

And I do not speak of "dual loyalty", I am referring to quid pro quo. Politicians can be bought, or rented.

[shira]

4. BDS is hate movement that only prolongs the conflict...

Their demonization campaign leads to attacks on Jews worldwide. It jeopardizes any notion of a 2-state solution and peace because it's very much against those prospects. It supports and legitimizes organizations like Hamas as well.

It's bad news.

As to dual loyalty, which other Americans act as foreign agents for other countries? And which countries would those be?

[guillaumeb]

5. You misread my comment. Or misunderstood.

I am talking about loyalty to money, not other countries.


As to your other comments, certain members of Netanyahu's government have stated that they do not believe in a two state solution. THAT is what jeopardizes any notion or possibility of a two state solution.