Since March, the California legislature has struggled to draft a bill aimed at thwarting BDS - the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. As readers of these pages know, BDS is a movement that promotes South Africa-style boycott and divestment strategies to oppose Israel and its policies. For many of its supporters, BDS is a way to challenge the very legitimacy of the Jewish state.
After a torturous path of amendment and revision, the State legislature now has in AB 2844 something it thinks it can live with. But the revised bill, however well-intentioned, remains seriously flawed. Governor Brown should veto it.
Earlier versions of the bill would have created a list of companies that participate in BDS – defined to include boycotts targeting Israel or settlements – and prohibited companies on the list from becoming state contractors (a blacklist). After being cautioned by its own legal counsel that economic boycotts qualify as protected free speech under the First Amendment, the legislature abandoned its original scheme and converted AB 2844 into a generic anti-discrimination law.
It seems there is no line Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t cross to defend
settlements. Israeli law says settlers can’t steal Israeli-recognized Palestinian private land for their own
purposes? Netanyahu leaves no principle of rule of law unchallenged in the 
"We have elevated the occupation to an art form ... And I'm
asking, is this what we want to be? Every step we take should stem from one
strategic goal - separation from the Palestinians."
APN calls on all Americans who care about Israel's
future to support the call for a referendum on the occupation,
which is now entering its fiftieth year.
