This week New Hampshire Governor Christopher Sununu (R) issued an executive order prohibiting the state from establishing contracts with companies that boycott Israel. The order also adopts the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
A similar bill targeting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was introduced in the New Hampshire House of Representatives earlier this year, but failed to make it out of committee.
“[New Hampshire and] Israel have experienced decades of successful exchange of commerce, culture, technology, and tourism,” tweeted Sununu. “NH will not tolerate anti-semitism, & we are taking significant steps at the state level to prohibit discriminatory boycotts of Israel in state procurement and investments.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan attended the signing ceremony and praised the state’s efforts. “Your crucial step is creating an economic Iron Dome that ensures our shared progress and prosperity,” he told the Governor. “But not only are you defending our shared interests. You are also fortifying the moral Iron Dome protecting the values of truth, justice and morality.”
Shawn Evenhaim, an LA real-estate mogul, former IDF soldier, and current chairman of the Israeli-American Coalition for Action, also praised the move. “This executive order protects the freedom and liberty of New Hampshire businesses from the coercion and bullying tactics of the BDS hate movement,” he declared.
The executive order was criticized by NH Rep. Alissandra Murray (D), co-chair of the House’s progressive caucus. “[The original bill] never even got a vote on the floor, so the tyrant Sununu decided to issue a politically-motivated executive order that condones violence and violates free speech,” they tweeted. “NH deserves better than this political game player in the corner office.”
“This order represents a total assault on our First Amendment rights,” said Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abba in a statement. “The government cannot tell Americans how to spend their money or who to financially support. Boycotts have been a part of American political life since the founding of our nation, and no state order attempting to ban or limit our right to boycott can be legitimate.”
New Hampshire becomes the 37th state to adopt legislation targeting the nonviolent BDS movement. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a legal challenge to Arkansas’s anti-BDS law.
In my view, another Israeli mobster unmasks himself.
I wonder how many millions of New Hampshire’s taxpayer dollars he’s planning to launder to Israel via Israel Bonds, without their consent?
BDS is commonly perceived as “anti-Israel”, as a weapon against the right of Israel to exist. You can be sure any Presidential candidate will have to declare being for or against BDS. No candidate will move forward declaring support…. due to this way it is perceived. Danger for progressives.
Not having a clear understanding of the basis on which the boycott ends, makes it a divisive political issue. Which in turn is used against those who dare support it. Nuances are important.
The sooner this conflict is perceived and understood as a human rights issue, equality under the law, and BDS is so conditioned, the sooner Palestinian liberation can be achieved.
Coming to terms with the probable reality of one governance and the improbability of two independent states, determines which tactics will work.
When there develops a Palestinian consensus for ending apartheid, via equality under law, the perception that its about being “anti-semitic”, “driving Jews into the sea”, will fade away…. a perception now reinforced by rocks, rifles and rockets.
So long as Palestinians are conned/persuaded into believing non-violence won’t work and forceful resistance is their best option, greater Israel remains in control.
Sheik Yassin figured it out. Once there is a stand down, and resistance becomes political, time will sort a resolution out.