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Why Anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Laws Are Moral and Constitutional

(Washington Times) Paul Miller - Currently, 22 states have passed legislation prohibiting them from doing business with, and/or investing in, companies that participate in the BDS campaign that singles out the Jewish state. Since 1977, U.S. law has permitted civil penalties against U.S. corporations that participate in boycott requests from foreign countries against U.S. allies, or that make such requests themselves. There is nothing in any of these laws that restricts free speech or penalizes individuals or organizations for boycotting or advocating against Israel. Northwestern University School of Law professor Eugene Kontorovich explains: "What these laws deal with is what states have deemed to be discriminatory business conduct and practices. When a company decides not to do business with someone because of its affiliation with Israel, it is engaged in a form of impermissible bigotry and discrimination. The states are saying...you can discriminate. But we don't have to subsidize your discrimination with taxpayer money." BDS is not about bettering the lives of Palestinians. Its only focus is to delegitimize and destroy the Jewish state, which the movement's founders freely admit. For a government entity, tolerating BDS is no different than tolerating racism, sexism or homophobia. The writer is president and executive director of the Haym Salomon Center.
2017-10-27 00:00:00
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