Israel plans to send bill to Palestinians over boycotts

[B Whale]

What do The Pixies, Elvis Costello, and Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, have in common? A cursory glance might suggest not much yet all have deeply irked Israel.When Mr Fayyad first embarked on a door-to-door campaign to persuade Palestinians to shun all products made by Jewish settlers, the Israeli public simply shrugged. But when veteran crooner Costello peered into his conscience and pulled a scheduled appearance in Tel Aviv, Israelis sat up and took notice.

The Land of Israel, a right-wing parliamentary lobby group committed to Jewish settlement of the West Bank, submitted the bill with the support of 25 politicians from right wing and centrist parties. If approved, it could theoretically force the Palestinian Authority (PA) to pay thousands of dollars in compensation to Jewish businesses affected by the Fayyad-led boycott campaign, a scenario that would likely spark furious reaction from Palestinians.

hould the proposal gain traction in its current form, it would force boycotters to pay compensation to settlers who claim their business had suffered. It would also affect foreign citizens calling for a boycott of Israel, potentially barring them from Israel for 10 years. But activists said attempts to muzzle peace activists would make the movement stronger. "No Knesset laws can stop this tide of non-violent, morally consistent struggle for justice, self determination, equality and freedom," political activist Omar Barghouti said in a statement.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-plans-to-send-bill-to-palestinians-over-boycotts-1997295.html

Democracy?

[Crunchy Frog]

1. So, they don't like violent resistance, but they don't like peaceful resistance either.

:shrug:

[B Whale]

3. well, anything that stands in the way of the armed expansion of their territory

violent, peaceful, democratic whatever, is simply a hatred of jewish people....we should realise that by now....that building towns and stealing farmland in someone elses nation through the force of arms is a fine thing to do. i don;t know why we all get so pissed all the time ;)

[David__77]

2. The message to foreign artists is "don't even consider going to Israel."

They furiously condemned these artists who chose not to go to Israel at a VERY sensitive moment. They never said they wouldn't come at another time. This kind of uproar is keenly watched by agents and industry professionals who would just assume keep away from controversy.

[B Whale]

4. The message from who? ....and to which artists? i actually think

that most artists do go. elton john is going there soon for example, and margeret atwood scotched appeals to turn down a literary prize from israel....

[David__77]

6. The message from the right-wingers in Israeli who are attacking those artists.

That is the "who" I was referring to. It is not constructive.

[B Whale]

9. yep agreed. is a big fuck you to the world! n/t

[LeftishBrit]

5. While I am against cultural boycotts, I am also against this sort of anti-democratic reprisal

I hope the bill doesn't pass.

[David__77]

7. ALWAYS against cultural boycotts?

I am just curious. So the criticism of, say, Ray Charles for going to apartheid South Africa was incorrect?

[B Whale]

8. i'm kind of in agreement about

cultural boycotts. for example i was against the attempted academic boycott, but this bill also covers all boycotts, inlcuding persuading palestinians not to work for the settlers.


(i didn;t include in the excerpts because of room, but this is a comprehensive bill about all boycotts, which is astonishing for a supposed democracy)

[LeftishBrit]

10. I agree - I think that there is a difference between academic/cultural boycotts of Israel as a whole

and specific anti-settler boycotts.

In any case, it is a seriously undemocratic measure. I hope it will not pass.

[azurnoir]

11. As to the artists I will love watching Israel try to enforce this outside of Israel

what they have done is guarantee none of these artists will ever play in Israel, the lawsuit against the PA is more disturbing as Israel has control of their banks and can simply steal the money that way in short Israel is trying to force the Palestinians to pay some sort of "tribute" to their occupiers

[Wizard777]

12. They only ban you from entering Isreal for 10 years. Is there a list of businesses?

I might want to join this boycott.

[azurnoir]

14. List here

It is a PDF file you have to scroll down to page 10 to get the items it's in Arabic however the items are shown as pictures

http://www.karama.ps/Dalele%20wp.pdf

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Very misleading headline

A fringe group is trying to make it law in Israel to bill those who boycott for damages. No discussion if it has an any chance of passing. Noteworthy...maybe. Amusing...of course.

[B Whale]

15. amusing?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. Its a laughable attempt

[B Whale]

18. oh i see...;)

[Name removed]

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