Tlaib likens boycotts of Israel to US boycott of Nazi Germany; Resolution voted in by 398 majority; Tlaib, Omar to be permitted entry to Israel in August, as confirmed by Israel’s ambassador to the US.
The United States House of Representatives passed a resolution opposing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The vast majority, 398, voted in favor of the resolution with 17 voting against and 5 abstaining. It follows the US House Foreign Affairs Committee adopting a resolution condemning the BDS movement last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the decision, stating Wednesday, “I would like to commend the US House of Representatives for overwhelmingly approving, by a great bipartisan majority, Democrats and Republicans alike, a decision against boycotts against Israel. This attests to the support for Israel in the US; this support is bipartisan and is important to us. I welcome this decision. It is right. It is correct, and it is very helpful.”
Representative Rashida Tlaib, who is openly anti-Israel and pro-BDS, claimed that boycotting is part of American culture, advocating against the resolution and claiming “the right to boycott is deeply rooted in the fabric of our country.” She then referred to the Boston Tea Party boycotts and likened the BDS movement to the United States’ boycott of the Nazis. She said, “Americans boycotted Nazi Germany in response to dehumanization, imprisonment, and genocide of Jewish people.”
Last month, Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin, directly addressed the BDS’s use of anti-Israel activities to promote its anti-Semitic agenda, which he referred to as “modern blood libels.” Directly on the BDS movements’ claims that its efforts are supporting the Palestinian cause, he corrected, “BDS does not seek peace, or even to help our Palestinian neighbors. It seeks to delegitimize Israel’s very existence.” He called on the international community to “expose the modern blood libels spread by BDS and put a price on its hate and discrimination.”
In May of this year, the German Bundestag (Parliament) voted in a new resolution officially labeling the BDS movements as anti-Semitic, making history as the first European Union country to do so. Under the new legislation, boycotting Israeli goods and services will be illegal, as would methods of labeling Israeli goods, a recent trend in Europe.
The BDS movement claims through boycotting, divesting and sanctioning the State of Israel. They will pressure the Israeli government to end its “siege” of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. It accuses Israel of colonialism, genocide, apartheid, occupation and war crimes, among many others. This is supported and promoted by misleading statistics, lies and biased and inaccurate reporting on Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.
Israel has a ban on BDS activists and authorities from entering Israel, which led to reports that Tlaib, alongside Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, would be denied entry to Israel next month. Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, reported last week that they would be permitted entry, as would all members of the US Congress, out of respect and because of “the great alliance between Israel and America.” They are scheduled to visit Israel and the West Bank.
