'Palestinian Rights Has Become an Incredibly Mainstream Issue'
CounterSpin interview with Josh Ruebner on BDS bans
Jackson, Janine
http://fair.org/home/palestinian-rights-has-become-an-incredibly-mainstream-issue/
Date Written: 2019-02-04
Publisher: FAIR
Year Published: 2019
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX23513
Interview with Josh Ruebner about anti-BDS legislation. With downloadable MP3 of interview.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
JJ: So who is this aimed at? Is it governments? Is it businesses? Who would be affected by this?
JR: This is a bill that attempts to encourage states to coerce individuals and companies to toe a particular line regarding Israel and the Palestinians, and to punish individuals and companies that support Palestinian rights through nonviolent efforts to engage in campaigns of boycott, divestment and sanctions. And it’s a patently unconstitutional call, because what it’s doing is it’s trying to leverage the power of government to punish people for having a certain political viewpoint....
JR: We now have elected members of Congress who not only defend our constitutional right to engage in boycotts for Palestinian rights, but in the case of some freshmen members of Congress, like Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, they actually support boycotts for Palestinian rights. And they’re introducing a whole new paradigm for thinking about this issue in the halls of Congress. And this is clearly worrying those who are protecting the status quo of Israeli military occupation, and separate and unequal policies toward the Palestinians.
JJ: Yes, just to further that: Reporting does kind of suggest that we see these anti-BDS moves as responsive to the fact that, while there is still an ongoing acknowledgement that antisemitism, of course, itself is very real and indeed rising, that "there seems to be increased understanding that criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government is not in itself antisemitic"
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