Oath-breaking federal legislators cave into Israeli foe against our First Principles

That’s right. Immediately before our eyes. Please read, at least, the following first two paragraphs of this recent article from The Intercept: http://bit.ly/2tzyWiW_Israel_Anti-Boycott_Act:

The criminalization of political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the West. In France, activists have been arrested and prosecuted for wearing T-shirts advocating a boycott of Israel. The U.K. has enacted a series of measures designed to outlaw such activism. In the U.S., governors compete with one another over who can implement the most extreme regulations to bar businesses from participating in any boycotts aimed even at Israeli settlements, which the world regards as illegal. On U.S. campuses, punishment of pro-Palestinian students for expressing criticisms of Israel is so commonplace that the Center for Constitutional Rights refers to it as “the Palestine Exception” to free speech.

But now, a group of 43 senators — 29 Republicans and 14 Democrats — wants to implement a law that would make it a felony for Americans to support the international boycott against Israel, which was launched in protest of that country’s decades-old occupation of Palestine. The two primary sponsors of the bill are Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is the punishment: Anyone guilty of violating the prohibitions will face a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison.

In essence, a Senate bill, S. 720, has been endorsed by dozens of senators and Congressmen that would criminalize any individual’s support for boycott of the state of Israel (e.g. the BDS sanctions). Such support includes speaking in favor of a/the boycott, putting a bumper sticker on one’s car, telling a friend that you don’t like what Israel is doing to its Palestinian prisoners, seeking to bring Israel before the International Criminal Court for apartheid or for the USS Liberty attacks… anything that can be construed by a sadistic government as ‘supporting a boycott’ of Israel. Continue reading →