Westchester could demonize BDS movement, chill free speech: View – The Journal News | LoHud.com

Felice Gelman 3:57 p.m. ET June 13, 2017

Westchester Board of Legislators' proposed resolution directly misstates the aims of the BDS movement. BDS is a campaign directed against the repressive and colonialist policies of the Israeli government, not against the Jewish people, says Felice Gelman. Wochit

A 2016 rally outside Gov. Andrew Cuomo's New York City office advocated for the The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.(Photo: SUBMITTED/Andrew Courtney)

Westchester County legislators have been discussing and are likely soon to vote on a resolution condemning the Palestinian-led international movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions directed against the Israeli government. The boycott movement, known by the shorthand BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) is aimed to protest the denial of basic humans rights to the Palestinians under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, to the Palestinians who are citizens of Israel but decidedly second class citizens, and to the Palestinian diaspora dispossessed from their homes and land in 1948 and 1967 and living all around the world.

Board of Legislators Chairman Mike Kaplowitz, D-Somers(Photo: David McKay Wilson/The Journal News)

What does this have to do with the Westchester County Legislature you might ask? County Legislator Ken Jenkins began the controversy. He proposed, in a resolution since withdrawn, that anyone doing business with Westchester County would have to sign a statement affirming that they did not support BDS. In this resolution, many heard echoes of the McCarthyism of the 1950s, when teachers, people doing business with the government and others were forced to sign statements that they were not and never had been members of the Communist Party. The resolution theLegislature is now considering sponsored by legislators Mike Kaplowitz and Jim Maisano condemns the use of boycott in general as a tactic that threatens the sovereignty and security of allies and trade partners," condemns the international BDS movement and claims that BDS seeks to undermine Israel and malign the Jewish people.

County Legislator Jim Maisano(Photo: File photo)

First, the resolution directly misstates the aims of the BDS movement. Contrary to much propaganda, the BDS movement does not call for an end to the state of Israel and it is not anti-Semitic. The BDS campaign for Palestinian rights has the support of many American Jews and explicitly disavows anti-Semitism. It is a campaign directed against the repressive and colonialist policies of the Israeli government, not against the Jewish people. The Palestinians boycott campaign calls for a boycott of Israeli companies benefiting from the military occupation, and an academic and cultural boycott of institutions complicit in supporting the occupation. It seeks an end to the military occupation, equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and recognition of the rights of dispossessed Palestinians to return to their property.

It does not malign the Jewish people. Accusations of anti-Semitism should not to be tossed around lightly by our elected officials. Anti-Semitism is a real problem one that has been given new momentum by the Trump campaigns willingness to accept the support of well-known white nationalist anti-Semites.

A 2016 march in support of the BDS movement heads to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Mount Kisco house.(Photo: SUBMITTED/Andrew Courtney)

Second, our legislators seem unaware of the crucial role that the non-violent tactic of boycott has played in human rights struggles. Did any of our legislators support the boycott of South Africas apartheid regime? South Africa was and is an ally of the U.S. and the boycott was a major contributor to the end of apartheid and the liberation of the black majority of that country. Boycotting the apartheid regime made the U.S. a better ally of the South African people.

Did any of our legislators more recently support the boycott of North Carolina endorsed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that protested that states laws discriminating against transgender people?

This is hardly the time for legislators to be trying to chill free speech and to limit political engagement. The Kaplowitz-Maisano resolution aims to demonize the BDS movement and it levels false accusations against that campaign and its supporters. The purpose is for the county Legislature to put its thumb on the scale and chill dissent. Resolutions like this undermine First Amendment protections. Further, they stifle the open exchange of ideas that could help resolve the tragic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Why, in an era when progressives have doubled down on protest and political engagement has our county Legislature decided they must attack free speech and a global human rights campaign? Its what has been called the Palestine exception to free speech. In other words, when it comes to Israel/Palestine, our political principles are suspended.

In the age of Trump, our legislators should stand up and cherish political engagement, free speech and dissent. It is what our democracy is made of. This very undemocratic resolution should be defeated.

The BDS movement has the support of Westchester social justice organizations WESPAC, Jewish Voice for Peace and Concerned Families of Westchester.

The writer, a Tarrytown resident,is member of WESPAC Foundation.

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Westchester could demonize BDS movement, chill free speech: View - The Journal News | LoHud.com