As most people who are concerned about Israel's brutal, one-sided treatment of Palestine and Palestinians know, Zionists in this country have spread the idea that criticizing Israel is "antisemitic" and shouldn't be tolerated. To those who have adopted this fallacy, activists' increasingly successful campaign for BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) is nothing less than anathema, and must be stamped out decisively.
On the one hand Israel tries to make light of the BDS movement, but on the other hand it is going all out to oppose it. To that end, they have employed subservient officials and politicians to develop means to suppress or punish BDS efforts. Palestine Legal (palestinelegal.org) calls this program âThe Palestine Exception to Free Speech."
For our feature presentation today, we have an interview conducted by the Real News Network out of Baltimore of Dimi Khalidi of Palestine Legal and, representing Jewish Voice For Peace, Professor Judith Butler of the University of California, Berkeley.
Supporters of the BDS movement are now mobilizing to try to defeat the bills. In Maryland, activists say an anti-boycott bill a local Jewish group wanted to push for was defeated after the Freedom2Boycott coalition protested and lobbied against the measure. Some of the measures in other states have passed in the Assembly or Senate in a state, but have not yet been signed by the governors of the state.
In Massachusetts, where this show is made, similar Bill HD-4156 was sponsored by 25 state reps. It remains pending in Committee,
These measures are the latest line in a series of attacks the BDS movement has faced in state legislatures around the U.S. since 2014, when the American Studies Association passed a resolution in favor of boycotting Israel. Last year, twenty-two anti-BDS bills were introduced in U.S. legislatures.
One of the most alarming bills is being debated in New York, which became the first state to consider anti-BDS bills in 2014, but not the first state to pass a measure. (In May 2015, South Carolinaâs government became the first to pass legislation penalizing businesses that boycott countries South Carolina trades with. Boycotts of Israel were the clear target.)
This Week In Palestine (a weekly part of Truth and Justice Radio) is an award-winning three-quarter-hour segment of news from Palestine and discussion of issues relevant to the Palestinians' struggle for freedom from Israel's brutal military occupation and colonization of their homeland. It speaks from the point of view of Palestinians and those who care about them. It's a regular part of Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org; TJR's website, truthandjusticeradio.org, has a link to This Week In Palestine archives back thru 1-6-2008; earlier editions are obtainable from radio4all.net or by navigating through our playlists. (At this important time, TJR has been airing a lot of Palestine coverage IN ADDITION to that provided by This Week In Palestine.) We hope you'll write to us at tjr@bluebottle.com if you rebroadcast our work, or have questions or comments.
This Week In Palestine 2-14-2016
on the nationwide epidemic of attempts to suppress Palestine advocacy
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