State defends anti-boycott law: Freedom of expression in Israel isn't like U.S.

[Jefferson23]

Law making anyone calling for boycott on Israel liable for damages comes under judges' scrutiny.


By Revital Hovel | Feb. 16, 2014

A nine-judge panel of the High Court of Justice on Sunday mulled striking three words (in Hebrew) from the law that allows any party to sue any other party calling for a boycott of Israel.

In hearing the petition against the so-called “Boycott Law,” the court focused on the phrase at the end of the law, which specifies that a lawsuit may be filed against anyone who calls for an economic, cultural or academic boycott against the State of Israel or “area under its control,” the last part referring to the territories over the Green Line.

The controversial law was approved in July 2011, against the advice of the Knesset’s legal adviser.

A slew of human rights and minority rights organizations, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Adallah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, filed the petition.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.574597

[Jefferson23]

1. Boycott law boycotts freedom of speech

A prohibition against a call for a boycott bans a legitimate means of protest, so it is unacceptable.

Haaretz Editorial | Feb. 16, 2014 |


The boycott law, whose constitutionality the High Court of Justice will consider Sunday morning, is a legacy of the previous Knesset.

According to the law, anyone who calls for a boycott of Israel, with a reasonable likelihood of success, is committing a civil offense and can be forced to pay compensation independent of any damage incurred. A “boycott of the State of Israel” is defined as refraining from economic, cultural or academic ties with a person or entity only because of an association with Israel, its institutions or land under its control.

Thus a call to boycott products from the settlements or the theater in Ariel could fall under that category. The law also lets the finance minister ban someone calling for a boycott from taking part in a state tender, among other economic rights.

Consumer boycotts have a long tradition, including the boycott of buses in Montgomery, Alabama, which protested the separation of blacks and whites, the boycott against South Africa during apartheid, and the cottage cheese boycott in Israel. In all these cases the boycott was a tool of political protest. But a prohibition against a call for a boycott bans a legitimate means of protest, so it is unacceptable.

Changes in the law have only increased the law’s violation of freedom of speech. As opposed to a criminal matter in which the attorney general can decide whether to press charges, the law lets anyone sue anyone who calls for a boycott, with the plaintiff receiving compensation without having to prove damage incurred.

Although no one has yet been sued as a result of this law, its very existence has a deterrent effect that impairs freedom of expression, thought and conscience. Moreover, because it only prohibits a boycott in a specific political context, it undermines equality.

Beyond the question of the law’s constitutionality, the legislature should realize that the solution to criticism of Israel and boycott calls is not silencing the criticism. It’s to seriously address the reason for that criticism.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.574395

[LeftishBrit]

8. Excellent points.

[Jefferson23]

10. Yes, well thought out...and this highlights it well too, although obvious, it needs repeating:

...the legislature should realize that the solution to criticism of Israel and boycott calls is not silencing the criticism. It’s to seriously address the reason for that criticism.

[TomClash]

2. Keepin the apartheid train rolling . . .

. . . with a dollop of lebensraum . . . until the Final Solution is achieved and Palestine has one master race with dominion over those not chosen by "God."

[King_David]

3. Final Solution ? Lebensraum? Master Race?

It used to be against DU rules to compare Israelis ( or Jews for that matter) to Nazis... I wonder if that's still the case.

[Scootaloo]

5. Used to be, yes

It was just as forbidden to refer to other players in the region as "Nazis" as well.

It also used to be against the rules to post image or videos.

OP's had to center around a news piece - no op-eds, no cartoons or songs or images, it had to be straight news journalism.

Staying on-topic was a requirement.

It was also forbidden to accuse another DU'er of antisemitism - such things were to be treated with the alert function. So too with calling other DU'ers "Nazis."

[azurnoir]

6. It used to be against I/P group rules to use Jews or Jew in place of Israeli or Israel too

but times change

[TomClash]

4. Ok, I will amend my post

Many think the problem is solved by driving Palestinians into Jordan (or beyond) to preserve a state dominated by one and only one ethnic group seeking more land to settle. That group sees itself as superior to the Palestinians and every other group in the region. That group consists of Jewish Israelis.

[azurnoir]

7. several US states are trying o make freedom of expression more like Israel's

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113457973

so I guess that could be called 'progress'

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

13. Are we going to call Freedom Fires Israel Fries now?

[Jefferson23]

9. Tragic opinion:

U.S. Jewish leader: BDS is '21st century form of 20th century anti-Semitism’

Joe Lieberman to spearhead anti-Iran campaign, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations executive VP Malcolm Hoenlein reveals.

By Judy Maltz | Feb. 17, 2014

The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations has set at the top of its agenda this year the goals of "educating" the world about the "dangers of Iran" and combating the delegitimization of Israel, long-serving executive vice-chairman Malcolm Hoenlein said Monday.

Former U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman will head a special taskforce on Iran set up by the conference, Hoenlein disclosed at a press briefing called to mark the opening of the organization’s annual conference in Jerusalem.

Hoenlein said that the former Democrat-turned-Independent senator from Connecticut would chair a “revised and reorganized” taskforce, whose mission was to “educate people around the world that Iran represents a global danger.” Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000.

“We do not believe that things have changed under [Iranian President Hassan] Rohani,” said Hoenlein. “He continues with the same threats, the same rhetoric, there are more executions under him, human rights violations and support for terrorists, and it is outrageous that the world doesn’t challenge this. The idea that we’re entering new era has not been demonstrated.”

Another key item on the organization’s agenda this year, he said, was combating the delegitimization of Israel. To this end, another taskforce representing more than 60 organizations had been created and was now being headed by real estate and media mogul Mort Zuckerman.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.574711#

[azurnoir]

11. Netanyahu: Those who boycott Israel are anti-Semites

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that those who boycott Israel are anti-Semites.

Speaking at the Conference of Presidents, Netanyahu told a group of visiting Jewish-American leaders that it is time for Israel to "fight back" and "delegitimize the delegitimizers."

There are increasing concerns in Israel over a Palestinian-led movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). The boycott has been growing recently, mainly in Europe, where some businesses and pension funds have cut investments or trade with Israeli firms they say are connected to West Bank settlements.

"I think that it is important that the boycotters be exposed for what they are, they are classical anti-Semites in modern garb," Netanyahu said.

He said Israel is fighting BDS by exposing the boycotters and with its booming high-tech sector.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4489466,00.html

[Jefferson23]

12. In modern garb no less. Interesting. n/t

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

14. Does NetanNutty propose to call Jews, who support a boycott, antisemites?

The guy is certifiably a thug. Israel's George Bush. He and the Persians could probably trade secrets on how to be bigger assholes.