Peloni: The Anti-BDS law is one of so many tools which can and should be used by the US against the Iranian terror regimes, and instead the US keeps sending these terrorists additionally significant aid. It will be refreshing to see this policy reversed with the Trump administration.
BDS is a malevolent scheme directed at delegitimizing Israel and undermining it as a haven for Jews.
Palestinians in Hebron protest for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of efforts to boycott Israel, one year after the terrorist attacks, Oct. 7, 2024. Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90.
Leonard Grunstein | November 24, 2024
Colleges and universities in the United States are under increasing pressure to boycott Israel, a move that is likely illegal under the U.S. Anti-Boycott Act of 2018.
It is reported that the effort is fostered and even financed by foreign countries, their affiliates and proxies, such as Iran, Qatar, Hamas, Samidoun (recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department) and the BDS movement. This group includes the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, a Palestinian Authority, Ramallah-based organization and arm of the terrorist-linked BDS National Committee.
The boycott movement against Israel is another obnoxious chapter in the sordid history of economic, social and political warfare against the Jews. BDS is just the latest rhetorical term used to obfuscate its nefarious character and sanitize it as some sort of social-awareness program. It’s a malevolent and antisemitic scheme directed at delegitimizing Israel and undermining it as a haven and homeland for Jews.
BDS only harms and serves no salutary purpose. It is not about having a state for the so-called Palestinian Arabs. That could have been accomplished years ago by merely accepting one of the many U.S.-sponsored peace proposals made by Israel over the years. Moreover, ever since the Oslo Accords, Hamas-controlled Gaza and the P.A.-controlled areas have functioned as proto-states, with their own elected governments and security forces. Indeed, the P.A. has admitted in U.N. documents that any so-called occupation ended in 1994.
BDS has not improved the prospects for peace, nor has it enhanced the lives of those living under the P.A. or Hamas; it actually hurts the Palestinians because of the resulting loss of jobs by the many people who were gainfully employed in Israeli enterprises. Furthermore, more than 90% of the P.A.’s exports are to Israel, as well as more than 50% of its imports. The specter of BDS also hampers joint developments and enterprises that might otherwise promote peace.
The U.S. Anti-Boycott Law declares it’s the policy of the United States to oppose restrictive trade practices or boycotts fostered or imposed by any foreign country against other countries friendly to the United States, such as Israel, or against U.S. citizens. The use of the expansive terms “fostered” and “foreign country” is cogent. The legislative history of the law supports a broad interpretation of these words to cover nongovernment organizations like the Arab League. The foreign source must merely foster the unsanctioned boycott to trigger the application of the law; control of those participating in the boycott is not required.
To violate the law, a U.S. “person” need only have the intent to comply with, further, or support an unsanctioned foreign boycott and refuse to, or agree not to, do business with the boycotted country or companies. U.S. persons are defined as all individuals (including foreign nationals), corporations and unincorporated associations that are resident in the United States.
Requests to support an unsanctioned boycott must be reported to the Department of Commerce and Internal Revenue Service. There may also be a private right of action, as discussed in Abrams v. Baylor, permitting affected U.S. citizens to seek enforcement of the law, including damages.
Many colleges are cognizant of the susceptibility of their constituency to the poisonous attraction of a seemingly exotic foreign boycott. For example, the Columbia University website, under the heading Columbia Research, Anti-Boycott, notes the university and its personnel are prohibited from agreeing to participate in any international boycott not supported by the U.S. government, such as the Arab League boycott of Israel, and the reporting requirements noted above.
Both Qatar (a substantial contributor to many universities) and the P.A. are members of the Arab League, the original object of the U.S. Anti-Boycott Law, which continues, directly or indirectly, to foster boycotts against Israel. The BDS movement is also reportedly associated with Hamas and the Iranian regime, which foster boycotts against Israel.
In 2021, more than 60 groups from the United States and Europe teamed up with Iran and Hamas to wage a BDS war against Israel. The Gaza event was called “Year to Confront Normalization,” and the related Iranian event, broadcast simultaneously from Tehran, was called “Together Against Normalization.” Together, they launched the “Peoples Against Normalization” anti-Israel and pro-BDS campaign. The collaborative link to the Iranian regime is probative, establishing, at the very least, that it’s fostering these malevolent BDS efforts in America.
Since then, BDS efforts have been redoubled as part of the pro-Hamas movement on college campuses and elsewhere. Avril Haines, U.S. director of national intelligence, stated on July 9: “In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.”
The ensuing BDS efforts fostered by Iran and its playbook implicate a likely violation of the U.S. Anti-Boycott Law.
The Anti-Boycott Law also expressly prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin. This would include discrimination against the approximately 500,000 Jewish Americans reportedly living in Israel, including approximately 60,000 in Judea and Samaria. Palestinian law prohibits land sales to Jews, and those breaking the law are subject to harsh penalties, while BDS, in effect, supports maintaining Judea and Samaria as Judenrein, Jew-free, with the goal of eliminating Israel entirely. This, despite the 1924 Anglo-American Convention, which, pursuant to the U.S. Constitution, is an American law and assures the right of Jews to live in Israel, including Judea and Samaria.
It’s time to enforce the U.S. Anti-Boycott Law and end reprehensible BDS. Israel does so much good. It’s a blessing to the world. As the Bible says in Numbers 24:9: “Those who bless Israel are blessed.”
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