Author: KPSC

Two of the most prominent Jewish members of the Senate warn that the Israel Anti-Boycott Act will harm free speech in the US.

By Amir Tibon | Haaretz | Dec 19, 2018

While we do not support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, we remain resolved to our constitutional oath to defend the right of every American to express their views peacefully without fear of actual punishment by the government.
— Sens. Bernie Sanders and Diane Feinstein in a letter to Senate leaders

Senators Bernie Sanders and Dianne Feinstein sent a letter on Thursday to Senate leaders urging them not to promote a controversial piece of legislation that will penalize boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Sanders and Feinstein, two of the most prominent Jewish members of the Senate, warned that the proposed legislation, called the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, will harm free speech in the US. . . .

Both Schumer and McConell support the anti-boycott bill, which is being promoted by the pro-Israeli lobby group AIPAC.

The legislation has been met with opposition from leading civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, over concerns that it will limit American citizens’ freedom of speech.

Continue reading “Sanders and Feinstein call anti-BDS bill “threat to free speech””

Since 2015, 26 states have passed anti-BDS legislation.

By Ray Hanania | Middle East Monitor | Dec 13, 2018

Arab Americans have everything on their side: the US Constitution; the rule of law; and the fight against racism enshrined in its domestic laws by the state of Israel which defines the settlements in the occupied West Bank. However, it takes more than all of that to do the right thing. It takes courage.

Last month, Airbnb, an American company that allows homeowners to list their properties for rental to visiting tourists, announced that it will prohibit listings of properties in Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The company’s decision was morally and legally correct, not least because of the illegal nature of the settlements and the racism that underpins them.

That the Israeli settlements are built for “Jews only” isn’t the real problem, though. The real problem is that they are built on land and property stolen by Israel’s government from Palestinian Christians and Muslims in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

This week, however, the Illinois Investment Policy Board (IIPB), which manages nearly $14 billion in financial investments for the state’s pensioners, declared that Airbnb is no longer in compliance with the state’s anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) laws which prohibit boycotts of Israel. Illinois has the dubious distinction of being the first state to propose an anti-BDS law and the third state to pass such a law. Anti-BDS laws are intended to punish US citizens and businesses who exercise their Constitutional right to free speech and decide to boycott Israel’s illegal settlements.

Continue reading “If America’s “core values” mean anything at all, then anti-BDS laws must be repealed”

Lost in all the coverage of George H. W. Bush was one of his major accomplishments — a willingness to play hardball with Israel. It’s long past time to get back to that sort of conservatism.

By Maj. Danny Sjursen | AntiWar.com | Dec 18, 2018

Here are the inconvenient facts: so long as Israel maintains two sets of political and civil rights for Jews and Muslims in the occupied Palestinian territories (those seized after the 1967 Six Day War), denies Palestinian national sovereignty, continues to build illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank, and maintains a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip, well, then, there will continue to be regular protests, an ongoing insurgency, and countless Palestinian deaths. Such asymmetrical killings — especially of civilians — will only feed the beast of conflict in a vicious cycle that is now entering its eighth decade.

This article being about the Israel/Palestine crisis — a veritable “third-rail” in American political discourse — it’s necessary to start with a few disclaimers. This author is not anti-Semitic and believes the Israeli state has a right to exist. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s address the controversial caveat: Palestinians, for moral and strategic reasons, also deserve state sovereignty and equivalent civil rights. And, believe it or not, that should be the stated position of all real (small “c”) conservatives.

The reasons are simple — the United States’ one-sided, pro-Israel stance, along with its massive funding of the Israeli military, continue to sully America’s reputation in the Muslim and Arab world. This (accurate) perception of inequity and hypocrisy on the part of the U.S. breeds more “terrorists” than America’s military can kill and directly endangers the homeland. Furthermore, the inextricable linkage between this administration as well as a variety of US military and intelligence agencies with the far right-wing leaders of the current Israeli government risks allowing Prime Minister Netanyahu to drag Washington into more regional wars America neither needs nor can win. It is, to be frank, the ultimate “wag-the-dog” scenario — and the two culprits are Israel and their cynical friend Saudi Arabia.

Continue reading “The conservative case for Palestine”

A Senate bill aims to punish those who boycott Israel over its settlement policy. There are better solutions.

By Editorial Board | The New York Times | Dec 18, 2018

Many devoted supporters of Israel, including many American Jews, oppose the occupation of the West Bank and refuse to buy products of the settlements in occupied territories. Their right to protest in this way must be vigorously defended. The same is true of Palestinians. They are criticized when they resort to violence, and rightly so. Should they be deprived of nonviolent economic protest as well?

One of the more contentious issues involving Israel in recent years is now before Congress, testing America’s bedrock principles of freedom of speech and political dissent.

It is a legislative proposal that would impose civil and criminal penalties on American companies and organizations that participate in boycotts supporting Palestinian rights and opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The aim is to cripple the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement known as B.D.S., which has gathered steam in recent years despite bitter opposition from the Israeli government and its supporters around the world.

Continue reading “Curbing free speech in the name of helping Israel”

In our country’s history, immigration has never been just about policy. It has always been about who we are and what we are willing to stand up for.

By Pramila Jayapal | The New York Review of Books | Dec 3, 2018

Now it’s more important than ever that Democrats — and any remaining willing Republicans — recapture America’s moral imagination on immigration. Our job is to tell the truth about immigration instead of cowering before falsehoods.

When my parents used all their savings to send me across the oceans from India at the age of sixteen, they made the ultimate sacrifice of separating from their child without knowing if we would ever live on the same continent again. They did so because they believed America was where I would get the best education and have the most opportunity. It took me seventeen years — involving an alphabet soup of visas and the abiding fear that I might not be able to stay in my new home — to get my US citizenship, in 2000. That was a teary and complex moment. Surrounded by people from all over the world, with hands over our hearts, we pledged allegiance to our new country. We knew we were the lucky ones and we were grateful, even as we felt our loss in saying good-bye to the families and countries we had left behind.

Just a year later, in the wake of September 11, I went on to found and lead what became the largest immigrant advocacy organization in Washington state. We organized tens of thousands of immigrants, faith leaders, labor unions, and businesses, engaging in a national conversation on immigration, identity, and the need to reform our outdated laws. Today, more than three decades since I arrived in America, I have the privilege of serving as the first South Asian-American woman in the House of Representatives, and I am one of only twelve members of the 115^th Congress who are proud naturalized citizens.

Continue reading “A new moral imagination on immigration”