The Israeli government has long touted itself as
“the only democracy in the Middle East.” This mantra ignores the fact that
following the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which paved the way for the
creation of Israel, over 4 million people under occupation in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip have no access to a civil
judicial system and are under nearly complete military control.
While the “democracy” in Israel—much like the
“democracy” of the United States—is nothing but a farce, the façade is
crumbling with the recent passing in the Israeli legislature, the Knesset, of
several extremely oppressive laws.
Among them is the Law for Prevention of Damage to
State of Israel through Boycott, commonly known as the “Boycott Law,” which was
approved by the Knesset on July 11.
The target of this bill is the Boycott, Divest
and Sanctions movement that started on July 9, 2005. The BDS campaign was
initiated by the Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy
Initiative and calls for an economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel
until it complies with international law.
The Boycott Law passed the Knesset 47-38 and
allows any individual or organization allegedly involved in a boycott to be
sued for damages in civil court by the party who claims to have suffered
damages. The court is free to award punitive damages independent of the actual
damage caused, which essentially empowers it to mete out whatever punishment it
sees fit against anyone it deems involved in a boycott effort.
Those who may be sued include, of course, Palestinians
living inside the 1948 borders of Israel and any NGO that supports the
Palestinian struggle. Not only can the person or organization be sued but, as
of October 2011, they will be stripped of government benefits and contracts if
they state support for or participate in the boycott.
The BDS campaign has grown massively in scope
over the years, especially after the U.S./Israeli operation Cast Lead, which
killed over 1,400 Palestinians between December 2008 and January 2009. The
increase of illegal settlement building in the West Bank has also contributed
to the campaign’s growth.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is
talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Netanyahu supports a bill that targets the BDS campaign and continues to
allow settlement construction in the West Bank, and has been bombing Gaza in
the past few months. Yet, with a straight face, he continues to spout off
demands that the Palestinian leadership needs to “work harder for peace.”
The Boycott Law was approved by the Knesset in
the wake of two equally undemocratic and racist laws passed in March: The Nakba
Law and the Admission Committees Law.
The Nakba Law strips funding from any
organization that celebrates, publicizes or commemorates the Nakba in any way.
The Nakba, or “The Catastrophe,” is remembered by Palestinians around the world
every year, marking the creation of Israel and the beginning of the genocidal
campaign that followed to expel the Palestinian people from their homeland.
True to the apartheid state of Israel, the
Admission Committees Law allows Arabs to be denied housing based solely on
their nationality. In June, the Israeli Knesset also passed a draft law that
would force Palestinians to pay for the demolition of their own homes.
This is the true face of the Israeli “democracy”
touted by Israeli and U.S. politicians alike. These odious laws were passed by
a “democratic” body, just as Arizona’s racist SB 1070 was presented and passed
in a “democratic” fashion.
This is democracy for the ruling classes only,
not democracy for the masses. True democracy that is not for the few but rather
for all, a democracy where all people are recognized as human beings and their
human rights are met, exists neither in Israel nor in the United States. Genuine
democracy and capitalism are at opposite poles.
Israel’s legal offensive against the BDS movement
is an implicit recognition of the movement’s strength. It is time to stand
firm. We will not be stopped. Palestine will be free.
