Thursday, July 21, 2011

Israel Draws International Criticism For Sweeping Anti-Boycott Law



"Israel has passed a new law outlawing citizens and organizations from advocating for boycotts against any Israeli person or entity. The law is drawing criticism from around the world as an attack on freedom of speech. Under the new law, any person — including journalists — calling for the boycott or divestment of Israel or the occupied West Bank can be sued by the boycott’s targets, without having to prove that they sustained damage. We’re joined by Gal Beckerman, the Opinion Editor at the Jewish daily newspaper, The Forward, which recently issued an editorial claiming, "a boycott can be a legitimate use of non-violent protest to achieve a worthy goal." The editors of the paper then drew a line through the sentence, along with several others, to illustrate the type of reasonable thoughts that will be punishable under the new law...."

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