Don’t Boycott Democracy – 12 July 2011

As everyone who pays us the slightest bit of attention knows, we at the New Israel Fund firmly oppose the global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. We think it’s a counterproductive and inflammatory strategy, imposing collective punishment on all Israelis.

But it should come as no surprise that we are disappointed and angered by yesterday’s Knesset passage of “the boycott bill,” which criminalises freedom of speech and provides for huge civil damages against any Israeli who expresses support for any kind of boycott, including those narrowly targeted to settlement goods.  As our new International Council co-chair Talia Sassoon makes clear in her Ha’aretz op-ed, this is the worst case of the tyranny of the majority.

In a democracy, unpopular opinions must not be illegal, or even expensive.

Many if not most Israelis oppose the settlement enterprise, and for good reasons.  Criminalising actors who refuse to perform in Ariel, or NGOs that support holding settlers economically accountable by not buying their goods or services, is appalling. We ourselves will not exclude support for organisations that discourage the purchase of goods or use of services from settlements.

NIF with SHATIL’s Centre for Policy Change worked with our friends to defeat this bill. This time, we fell short, although ACRI (Association of Civil Rights in Israel) is already at the High Court this morning filing a petition against the law.

But with many more anti-democratic bills waiting for Knesset action, your voice must be heard. New Israel Fund is proud to stand with the many Israelis who are defending democracy.

For more information on how you can get involved please email Adam Ognall at adam@uknif.org.