I just found out in the last few days that the Illinois legislature is poised this week to pass legislation that would help cement permanent Israeli control of the West Bank.
Apparently, the Illinois House may vote on the legislation today. These bills advertise themselves as being against "boycotting Israel," and would bar companies that "boycott Israel" from receiving Illinois contracts. But the definition of "boycotting Israel" in the bill is this: [my emphasis]: 7 Sec. 50-36.5. Prohibition on contracts with businesses 8 that boycott Israel. Notwithstanding any other provision of 9 this Code, on and after the effective date of this amendatory 10 Act of the 99th General Assembly, a State agency shall not 11 enter into a contract subject to this Code with a business that 12 boycotts Israel. For the purposes of this Section, "boycott 13 Israel" means engaging in actions that are politically 14 motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm 15 on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the State of 16 Israel or businesses based in the State of Israel *or in* *17 territories controlled by the State of Israel.* That is, boycotting Israeli settlements in the West Bank would count as "boycotting Israel" for the purpose of this bill. In other words, according to this bill, the settlements equal Israel. No distinction. No Green Line. No occupation. All Israel, to the Jordan River. Yet, supporting the boycott of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is the position of Peace Now, Americans for Peace Now, and Jewish Voice for Peace, as well as the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church, among others. The Illinois House Bill is HB4011: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=88&GA=99&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=4011&GAID=13&LegID=90228&SpecSess=&Session= The Illinois Senate bill is SB1761. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1761&GAID=13&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=88517&SessionID=88 If your state has such bills pending, I would appreciate knowing about it ASAP. === Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] (202) 448-2898 x1
_______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
