• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    There’s a reason Israel spends so much lobbying money to make boycotting their companies illegal…

    • peg@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      There’s a bill passing through the British parliament right now.

      • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
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        7 months ago

        A lot of places, to varying degrees:

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws

        Usually in the US more by making it illegal to sign government contracts with any boycotters of Israel, or by preventing public funds from investing into any entities perceived as boycotting Israel. These things could be devastating to any businesses or non profits that work with the government, or any publicly traded companies (due to decreased investment). Technically boycotting Israel in general can’t be made illegal in the US, as that would be a free speech violation.

        • febra@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          So basically in all the countries that are in love with settler colonialism, condemning and boycotting settler colonialism is illegal.

        • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
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          7 months ago

          Israel is really against free speech. This law might in the future be used to make BDS a hate crime or some equally perverse analogy like that. Israel will gladly throw away other people’s rights for their own benefit (not least their neighbors’ rights), and they are completely throwing Jews in general under the bus, as it has been from the beginning:

          Herzl described [Jewish] opponents of the Zionism he was proposing as “Jewish vermin”

          In fact, the more anti-semitism rises in the world, the more Jews will believe they should move to Israel, thus serving the Zionist agenda. Israel might throw America under the bus too, just to get their way.

          The current struggle is not Israel vs. Palestine or Israel vs. Hamas but Israel vs. human rights and freedom, and we do have to pick a side.

          I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

          • Elie Wiesel
      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Someone already linked the Wikipedia article.

        But to expound on that, some US states make people sign a pledge to not participate in BDS if they have a job or even just contract with the state.

        It’s incredibly fucked up and few people talk about it.

        Inside every major contract Missouri signs with a business sits a clause about boycotting Israel.

        All but the smallest companies have to agree not to participate in any movement that aims to boycott, divest from or sanction companies in Israel.

        Missouri isn’t alone. At least 36 other states have anti-BDS (boycott, divest or sanction) measures that bar state contractors from refusing to do business in Israel, or otherwise boycotting or divesting from the country or its occupied territories.

        https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2023/10/24/missouri-anti-bds-israel-contracts/

          • TrueStoryBob@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee is one of the largest political lobbies in the United States.

            • dlatch@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I know and I always thought that is bullshit, but making it (for all intends and purposes) illegal to boycot companies from another country is next level. That’s giving away freedoms of your own citizens purely to the advantage of another country. That is insane.

              • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
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                7 months ago

                Isn’t it? And it has been going on since long before you and me heard about it. The best we can do for justice is to just spread truths like this, because the only reason injustices like that find so much success is that they are hidden and done in secret.