Get ready for a new round of accusations that the Israel lobby stifling debate.
According to a report on the popular website Buzzfeed, the Israel lobby group, AIPAC is helping draft legislation to limit the effectiveness of the BDS in the US and Europe.
A source told Buzzfeed that the legislation would place anti-BDS conditions on the U.S.-EU free trade agreement, deny federal contracts to American companies participating in the boycott, and authorize state governments to divest from companies involved in BDS.
[sc:graybox ]Join the Fighting BDS Facebook page and stand up against the delegitimization of Israel.
“In effect, it’s a boycott of those who boycott,” the source said. “It applies the successes we learned from Iran sanctions and applies them to those who seek Israel’s political destruction.”
A different type of legislation aimed at barring colleges that boycott Israel from receiving state funding failed to attract support in New York and other states earlier this year. Opponents of the measure argued that the laws constituted a violation of free speech.
Time will tell if the new legislation manages to overcome over the same hurdles. But even before the legislation has been introduced, some critics are already dismissing it as a form of censorship.
