“The BDS movement enjoys strong Palestinian support and urges boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning Israel.”
Wisconsin has become the latest US state to formally take action against the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and now joins the 24 other states that have passed legislation to crack down on the BDS organization. State Governor Scott Walker signed an executive order on October 27th prohibiting state agencies from contracting with businesses engaging in a boycott of Israel.
“We stand firmly against discrimination in any form, and we wholly support our friends in Israel,” Walker said in a statement after signing the order.
Walker expressed support for a state bill that would prohibit any entity in state or local government from adopting a rule, ordinance, policy, or procedure that involves the entity in a boycott of Israel, a person doing business in Israel, or a territory under Israeli jurisdiction. The bill also requires that state contracts for materials, supplies, equipment, and services include a provision that the vendor is not currently participating in and will not participate in a boycott of Israel during the contract.
The legislation was co-authored by Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) and Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield). In a press release, Sen. Vukmir said, “Boycotts of Israel must be fought because they do not just attack the Jewish state. This propaganda campaign is also the basis for newly emboldened and destructive anti-Semitic attitudes. We must support our ally, Israel.”
Although the bill is still being considered, it follows a string of similar legal measures imposed by at least 22 other states across the country. This month, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed an executive order that similarly bans firms that boycott Israel from state contracts.
Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement and a founding committee member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said crackdowns on boycott advocates are a kneejerk reaction to the movement’s growing success.
The BDS movement enjoys strong Palestinian support and urges boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning Israel.
“After losing so many battles for hearts and minds against the fast-growing BDS movement for Palestinian rights, Israel and its massive lobby are desperately trying to stop the movement from above, by passing draconian, unconstitutional laws that evoke the worst memories of McCarthyism.”
In response to the BDS movement activities, Israel and its advocates have pushed measures that target BDS activists at home and abroad. In 2016, Israel allotted $26m to fighting BDS by gathering intelligence on activists online. The Israel Group, a US-based organization that opposes BDS, has been a leader in efforts to combat the boycott movement. The group lobbies school districts, universities, and other institutions and hosts panel discussions and other events.
Jack Saltzberg, founder and executive director of The Israel Group, does worry that the anti-BDS movement could have the effect of creating a false sense of security. The Israel Group has recently criticized California public school districts for hosting Palestine-focused educational seminars, including in Orange County and Los Angeles County.
In March, the federal Israel Anti-Boycott Act—a bill that seeks to criminalize boycotting Israel—was introduced in the US Congress. The US also threatened to cut funding to the United Nations in August over its plans to publish a list compiling all the companies complicit in Israel’s settlement enterprise.
The founder of BDS, Omar Barghouti, argued that the crackdown on BDS is bound to backfire.
“Israel’s policies of ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities, incessant construction of illegal settlements, home demolitions, and the siege of Gaza, coupled with Israel’s association of late with the xenophobic far-right in the US and elsewhere, is shredding to pieces its fake mask of democracy”.
Omar Barghouti, a Qatari-born Palestinian who lives in northern Israel with his Israeli-Arab wife, was arrested last March in Israel for tax evasion of an estimated $700,000.
