House bill would protect U.S. companies from having to provide information that could be used to advance BDS.
By JNS.org
A group of Republicans in Congress, led by the co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), introduced a bill on March 3 to protect American companies from being coerced to provide information to international organizations for the purpose of furthering boycotts against Israel.
The Anti-Boycott Act, which has 46 Republican co-sponsors, would amend the Export Administration Act of 1979 to prohibit boycotts or boycott requests imposed by international governmental organizations against Israel. The act would also hold accountable individuals who attempt to violate it.
It also affirms Congress’s opposition to the BDS movement and considers the UN Human Rights Council’s creation of a database of companies doing business in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to be an act of BDS.
“In the past year alone, we have witnessed an alarming rise in antisemitic and anti-Israel hate and violence in the United States and around the world,” Zeldin said in a news release.
Whether it’s Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel, well-known companies embracing the BDS movement, antisemitism in academia, discrimination against Israel at the U.N. or congregants of a Texas synagogue being held hostage, there is no denying that antisemitism is a persistent problem in our society that needs to be identified, called out and crushed in all forms,” he added.
“Too many—even in the halls of Congress—have emboldened antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric by accepting the BDS movement whose founder, in referring to Zionism, said ‘I, for one, support euthanasia,’ ” he continued.
“This legislation not only reinforces congressional opposition to the BDS movement but protects American companies from being forced to provide information to international organizations that peddle this hate-filled movement and holds those who attempt to violate that protection accountable,” Zeldin stated.
The bill is supported by the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Zionist Organization of America.