By the time this piece comes out, a new Congress will be installed as a result of the "Blue Wave" this past November. While this is modestly uplifting news, it is important to recognize that jovial times like these are ideal for politicians to quietly slip some last-minute things into legislation.
One of which is the so-called Israel Anti-Boycott Act. Sponsored by Democratic Senator Ben Cardin and Republican Senator Rob Portman, the bill would essentially create fines of up to $1 million for those who behave in ways that "have the effect of furthering or supporting...restrictive trade practices or boycotts fostered or imposed by any international governmental organization against Israel."
While it is completely unpredictable how this bill would be enforced or implemented, the bill still has to go through a House that now has pro-Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) members (Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Oman of Minnesota) and a modest Senate opposition led by Bernie Sanders and Dianne Feinstein.
But nevertheless, Americans still have a constitutional right to boycott the apartheid state of Israel.
Boycotting has long been seen as the most effective, nonviolent form of protest against injustice. American revolutionaries boycotted British goods for their independence in colonial times. Civil rights activists in the South boycotted segregation in bus companies during the 1960s. Antiwar activists exposed and boycotted corporations that upheld military contracts in Vietnam. In the context of apartheid, South African resisted buying South African goods and participating in the nation's white Olympic team.
So as you can see, boycotts do work. When there is an injustice conducted by a large entity, choking them by the wallet is the ultimate way to get them to act up. And Americans rallying solidarity with the Palestinian people have demonstrated the power of boycotting. Hundreds descended upon Chicago to protest the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Ahed Tamimi, a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, was freed from an Israeli detention center after defending herself from an Israeli soldier harassing her family. In 2018, Lana Del Rey canceled her appearance at the Meteor music festival in Tel Aviv following pressure from BDS activists around the world.
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act is thus not only a threat to our constitutional rights of free speech, but also a threat to human rights overseas. This bill does nothing more than enable the apartheid tendencies of Israel and install a McCarthyist-like nature when it comes to fighting for Palestine. It is imperative that should this bill become closer and closer to the reality that we hold those in Congress accountable for infringing on our sacred right of free speech in this country.
