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U.S. Senate’s First Bill, in the Midst of the Shutdown, Is a Bipartisan Defense of the Israeli Government From Boycotts
When each new Congress is gaveled into session, the chambers attach symbolic importance to the first piece of legislation to be considered. For that reason, it bears the lofty designation of H.R.1 in the House and S.1 in the Senate.
In the newly controlled Democratic House, H.R.1 — meant to signal the new majority’s priorities — is an anti-corruption bill that combines election and campaign finance reform, strengthening of voting rights, and matching public funds for small-dollar candidates. In the 2017 Senate, the GOP-controlled S.1 was a bill, called the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” that, among other provisions, cut various forms of corporate taxes.
But in the 2019 GOP-controlled Senate, the first bill to be considered — S.1 — is not designed to protect American workers, bolster U.S. companies, or address the various debates over border security and immigration. It’s not a bill to open the government. Instead, according to multiple sources involved in the legislative process, S.1 will be a compendium containing a handful of foreign policy-related measures, the main one of which is a provision — with Florida’s GOP Sen. Marco Rubio as a lead sponsor — to defend the Israeli government. The bill is a top legislative priority for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
In the previous Congress, that measure was known as S.170, and it gives state and local governments explicit legal authority to boycott any U.S. companies which themselves are participating in a boycott against Israel. As The Intercept reported last month, 26 states now have enacted some version of a law to punish or otherwise sanction entities that participate in or support the boycott of Israel, while similar laws are pending in at least 13 additional states. Rubio’s bill is designed to strengthen the legal basis to defend those Israel-protecting laws from constitutional challenge.
Punishment aimed at companies that choose to boycott Israel can also sweep up individual American citizens in its punitive net because individual contractors often work for state or local governments under the auspices of a sole proprietorship or some other business entity. That was the case with Texas elementary school speech pathologist Bahia Amawi, who lost her job working with autistic and speech-impaired children in Austin because she refused to promise not to boycott goods produced in Israel and/or illegal Israeli settlements.
Thus far, the two federal courts that have ruled on such bills have declared them to be unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment speech rights of American citizens. “A restriction of one’s ability to participate in collective calls to oppose Israel unquestionably burdens the protected expression of companies wishing to engage in such a boycott,” U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa of Arizona wrote in her decision issuing a preliminary injunction against the law in a case brought last September by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of “an attorney who has contracted with the state for the last 12 years to provide legal services on behalf of incarcerated individuals,” but lost his contract to do so after he refused to sign an oath pledging not to boycott Israel.
A similar ruling was issued in January of last year by a Kansas federal judge, who ruled that state’s Israel oath law unconstitutional on the ground that “the Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment protects the right to participate in a boycott like the one punished by the Kansas law.” In that case, a Mennonite who was a longtime public school teacher lost her independent contract as a school curriculum developer after she followed her church’s decision to boycott goods from Israeli companies in the occupied West Bank and thus, refused to sign the oath required by Kansas law.
These are the Israel-defending, free speech-punishing laws that Rubio’s bill is designed to strengthen. Although Rubio is the chief sponsor, his bill attracted broad bipartisan support, as is true of most bills designed to protect Israel and supported by AIPAC. Rubio’s bill last Congress was co-sponsored by several Democrats who are still in the Senate: Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
The support among Democrats for bills that would punish supporters of the Boycott Israel movement is now particularly awkward given that two of the most prominent newly elected Democratic members — Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the first two Muslim women in Congress — are both supporters of that Israel boycott.
Last year, Cardin introduced a bill that would have criminalized participation in international boycotts of Israel, and it was on the verge of passing with significant bipartisan support until the ACLU sounded the alarm on how gravely unconstitutional that bill was. Once The Intercept reported on the mechanics of the bill and the covert effort to enact it with little attention, numerous Democratic senators announced that they were reconsidering their support, stalling the bill’s enactment. Though Cardin attempted to pass a watered-down version in the lame-duck session, it is now Rubio’s Israel-defending bill that has taken center stage even as the U.S. government is in the midst of a shutdown for American citizens.
That the newly elected U.S. Congress would choose to prioritize protection of this foreign nation — at the expense of the constitutional rights of American citizens and over countless bills that would help Americans — was only one of the stinging criticisms voiced to The Intercept by ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Kathleen Ruane:
In the midst of a partial government shutdown, Democratic and Republican senators have decided that one of their first orders of business next week should be to sneak through a bill that would weaken Americans’ First Amendment protections. The bill, Combatting BDS Act, encourages states to adopt the very same anti-boycott laws that two federal courts blocked on First Amendment grounds. The legislation, like the unconstitutional state anti-boycott laws it condones, sends a message to Americans that they will be penalized if they dare to disagree with their government. We therefore urge senators to vote no on the Combatting BDS Act next week.
With the seven Democratic co-sponsors, the bill would have the 60 votes it needs to overcome a filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — who supported Cardin’s far more draconian bill of last year and is one of the Senate’s most reliable AIPAC loyalists — also plans to support the Rubio bill, rather than whip votes against it, sources working on the bill said. Schumer’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
If the bill does pass the Senate, the major question will be whether the Democratic House — now led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Israel advocate but also as a supporter of the First Amendment — takes it up and passes it into law.
https://theintercept.com/2019/01/05/u-s ... v3iSQCyhWg
b]Netanyahu to head to Chad Sunday to renew diplomatic ties[/b]
During one-day trip to N’Djamena, PM and African Muslim-majority nation’s longtime ruler Déby will formally declare resumption of relations after 47 years
https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/up ... e-01_2.mp4
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fly to Chad on Saturday night to announce the renewal of diplomatic ties with the African Muslim-majority nation.
During his one-day trip on Sunday to N’Djamena, the country’s capital city, Netanyahu will meet Chad’s President Idriss Déby for a meeting and a formal declaration by the two leaders on the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, which were severed 47 years ago.
In November, Déby made a surprise visit to Israel, during which he said he was interested in restoring full diplomatic ties. As he left the country after a three-day trip, during which he also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Netanyahu promised to fly to the country’s capital “soon” for the formal reestablishment of ties.
“The relations between our countries were cut in 1972 for specific historic reasons, but our special relations continued all the time,” Déby, who has ruled Chad since 1990, said at the time.
Israel and Chadian leaders have acknowledged that clandestine contacts continued even after relations were severed.
“The current visit to your beautiful country expresses our desire to take the relations that existed all the time and make them stronger,” Déby said.
“The resumption of diplomatic relations with your country, which I desire, does not make us ignore the Palestinian issue,” Déby continued. “My country is profoundly attached to the peace process and has shaped the Arab peace initiative, the Madrid principles and existing agreements.”
Chad is located in a potentially strategically important place for Israel, as it could enable Israeli aircraft to shave off several hours in flight routes to Latin America (though for this to happen Israel would also need to get overfly rights from Sudan, which does not appear imminent).
The Republic of Chad cut diplomatic ties with Jerusalem in 1972. Nearly 15 million people live in Chad today, 55 percent of whom are Muslim. About 40% are Christian.
Netanyahu has traveled three times to Africa in the last two years, visiting Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Liberia.
He regularly vows to expand ties with all countries on the continent, including those that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
In July 2016, the Republic of Guinea, a small, overwhelmingly Muslim country in West Africa, renewed diplomatic relations with Israel, after it had cut ties with the Jewish state in 1967. Since then, Netanyahu has met with leaders of additional African Muslim-majority states, such as Mali and Somalia.
President Idriss Deby of Chad (L) is welcomed at Ben Gurion Airport by Regional Cooperation Minsiter Tzachi Hanegbi (C) and National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat, November 25, 2018. (Avi Hayon/Foreign Ministry)
Netanyahu, who is also foreign minister, is currently also planning at least one other visit abroad before the April 9 Knesset election.
In late March, Netanyahu is expected to fly to Washington to participate in AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference. In DC, he is expected to also hold a meeting with US President Donald Trump and may even be treated to a state dinner at the White House.
On Thursday, the prime minister canceled his whirlwind visit next week to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum.
War on BDS: How AIPAC-Israel Agenda became USG Priority
The Israeli-US war declared on the Palestinian boycott movement is coming to a head, culminating in a well-orchestrated effort aimed at suffocating any form of tangible protest of the ongoing Israeli colonization of Palestine.
But an Israeli ‘victory’, even with blind US government support, is still too elusive if at all guaranteed. Killing unarmed protesters at the fence separating besieged Gaza from Israel is often whitewashed as Israel ‘defending itself’. However, legislating unconstitutional laws against the rights of ordinary people to boycott a state that practices war crimes might not be an easy endeavor.
The fact that 26 US states have already passed legislation or some form of condemnation of the civil act of boycott, as championed in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) should, in fact, raise more awareness of the iniquitous Israeli influence on the United States, rather than actually thwarting BDS.
The US Senate first bill of 2019 (S.B.1) titled: “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019” called on state and local governments to withhold contracts from any individual or business entity that boycotts Israel.
The bill was defeated, which is a promising sign. However, it must be noted as profound, if not altogether outrageous, that a country that is subsisting in a government shutdown and political crisis would find it both compelling and necessary to push for such a law in defense of a foreign country.
The bill will reappear again, of course. Alas, Americans should now get used to the idea that Israel’s priorities, however skewed and irrational in defense of its illegal military occupation of Palestine, will become the main rally cry for the US government for years to come.
While such a notion has proved true in the past, never before did ordinary Americans find themselves the main target in the political agenda of the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Even the mere protest of this agenda is being shunned. Iconic US civil rights activist, Angela Davis, 74, deservingly celebrated for her contribution to American society for decades, was denied an award by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute because of her defense of Palestinians and support of BDS.
This witch-hunt, which has now reached the most admired intellectuals of American society is affecting ordinary citizens everywhere as well, which is an alarming development in Israel’s unchecked power in the United States.
But how did Israel and its supporters acquire such disproportionate influence over the US government and society as a whole?
In short, the Lobby.
Cheered on by American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel lobbies, the US Congress is now leading the Israeli war on Palestinians and their supporters. In the process, they are attempting to demolish the very core of American democratic values.
The build-up to this particular battle, which will certainly be accentuated in 2019, began when AIPAC declared in its “2017 Lobbying Agenda” (PDF) that criminalizing the boycott of Israel is a top priority.
The US Congress, which has historically proven subservient to the Israeli government and its lobbies, enthusiastically embraced AIPAC’s efforts. This resulted in the Senate Bill S.720, also known as the “Anti-Israel Boycott Act”, which aimed to ban the boycott of Israel and its illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
The bill almost immediately gained the support of 48 Senators and 234 House members. Unsurprisingly, it was drafted mostly by AIPAC itself.
Punishment for those who violate the proposed law ranged from $250,000 to $1 million and 10 years imprisonment.
Anti-Palestinian measures in the US are nothing new. In fact, ardent support for Israel and the complete disregard for Palestinians is the only aspect which Democrats and Republicans have in common. It will remain to be seen if the inclusion of progressive and Muslim women in this current House lineup will change or at least challenge that reality.
For now, the sad truth is that the very individuals who were meant to guard the Constitution are the ones openly violating it. The First Amendment to the US Constitution has been the pillar in defense of the people’s right to free speech, freedom of the press, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”.
This right has, however, often been curtailed when it applies to Israel. The Center for Constitutional Rights refers to this fact as “The Palestine Exception“.
Dire as it may seem, there is something positive in this. For many years, it has been wrongly perceived that Israel’s solicitation of American support against Palestinians and Arabs is by no means a foreign country meddling or interfering in the US political system or undermining US democracy.
However, the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” is the most egregious of such interventions, for it strikes down the First Amendment, the very foundation of American democracy, by using America’s own legislators as its executors.
But none of this will succeed because simply put, noble ideas cannot be defeated.
Moreover, for Israel, this is a new kind of battle, one which it is foolishly attempting to fight using the traditional tactics of threats and intimidation, and backed by blind US support.
The more the lobby tries to defeat BDS the more it exposes itself and its stranglehold on the American government and media.
Israel is no student of history. It has learned nothing from the experience of the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa. It is no surprise that Israel remained the last supporter of the Apartheid regime in that country before it fell.
For true champions of human rights, regardless of their race, religion or citizenship, this is their moment as no meaningful change ever occurs without people being united in struggle and sacrifice.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190 ... -priority/
After Chad ties restored, Israel set to host Mali’s PM in coming weeks
Upon his return from N’Djamena, Netanyahu said to be gearing up to normalize ties with another Muslim-majority country in Africa
Israel is preparing for an historic visit by Mali’s Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, officials said on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cemented the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Chad during the first visit of an Israeli premier to the Muslim-majority country.
Maiga will visit Israel “in the coming weeks,” and Netanyahu hopes the trip will take place before the April 9 elections, according to reports by Channel 13 and the Kan public broadcaster.
The Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
The West African country, whose population is also majority Muslim, severed ties with Israel in 1973, following the Yom Kippur War. Last year, Netanyahu met with the Malian president on the sidelines of a summit in Liberia. At the end of the meeting, Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying the countries agreed to “warm” their relations.
Maiga’s visit could mark a similar process to that with Chad, which re-established ties that with Israel on Sunday during Netanyahu’s single-day visit to the country, weeks after Chad’s President Idriss Déby had visited Israel. Chad severed ties with Israel in 1972, due to pressure from Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
Appearing alongside Déby at the N’Djamena presidential palace, Netanyahu called the move “a breakthrough into the heart of the Muslim world.”
Netanyahu portrayed the visit as the result of his hard-won diplomatic efforts, referring to his three visits to Africa over the last couple years and his surprise trip to Oman in October. The visit to Oman, a major diplomatic victory for Netanyahu, was an apparent sign of Israeli progress in improving ties with Gulf countries.
On Sunday, in Chad, he also indicated that additional Muslim countries in Africa would soon warm up to Israel. “There will be more major news. There will be more countries,” he said, without elaborating.
In an unprecedented move, Sudan on Sunday allowed Netanyahu’s plane to cross through the air space it controls on his way back to Israel from Chad. The prime minister’s plane jetted over South Sudan, whose skies are under the control of the civil aviation authorities in Khartoum.
Israel’s diplomatic push in Africa is aimed mainly at widening Israel’s circle of relations, boosting trade, and improving its international status, and is also driven in part by a desire to ease air travel to Latin America. Flying in the airspace of traditionally hostile African countries would allow airlines to offer faster, more direct flights between Israel and the continent.
Flying directly from Israel to Brazil over Africa would shave some four hours off the average journey, which currently takes at least 17 hours, and requires a stopover in either Europe or North America.
In stark contrast to the talk of warming ties with Mali, hours after Netanyahu’s joint appearance with Déby, al-Qaeda gunmen, angered by Chad resuming ties with Israel, killed 10 Chadian peacekeepers and injured at least 25 others in an attack on a UN camp in northern Mali. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was “in reaction” to the visit to Netanyahu, according to the Mauritanian Al-Akhbar news agency, which regularly receives statements from this jihadist group.
Netanyahu has traveled three times to Africa in the last two years, visiting Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Liberia. He regularly vows to expand ties with all countries on the continent, including those that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
In July 2016, the Republic of Guinea, a small, overwhelmingly Muslim country in West Africa, renewed diplomatic relations with Israel, after it had cut ties with the Jewish state in 1967.
Intel in talks to pump $11 billion into new Kiryat Gat plant — report
US-based tech company wants state to pony up amount equal to 10% in exchange for massive investment; move comes after agreement to spend $5 billion on upgrading Kiryat Gat fab
US tech mammoth Intel is in talks to spend $11 billion on a new Israeli manufacturing facility, if it receives hefty help from the state, according to a report Monday.
Intel has held discussions with Finance Ministry officials over the past several weeks over a possible investment of some NIS 40 billion into a new fabrication plant, known as a fab, near Kiryat Gat, in exchange for a grant worth 10 percent of the investment, the Globes financial daily reported.
In May, Intel confirmed plans to invest $5 billion (NIS 19 billion) in expanding its Kiryat Gat production plant in Israel, where it produces and develops some of its most advanced computer chips, through 2020. As part of the investment plan, Intel is expected to get an NIS 700 million government grant.
The company already pays a reduced 5% tax rate, which it would not seek to change under the arrangement, according to the report.
According to Globes, talks are in an early stage and Intel, based in California, has not decided if it will build plants in Oregon, Ireland or Israel, or more than one location. The final investment in Israel could also end up being lower, according to Globes.
In December, the firm said it was planning on expansions in all three locations.
“With the biggest market opportunity in Intel’s history ahead of us, we will take the necessary steps to prepare our global manufacturing network for flexibility and responsiveness to changes in demand,” Ann Kelleher, senior vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Operations at Intel, wrote. “We are now in the early planning phase for manufacturing site expansions in Oregon, Ireland and Israel, with multi-year construction activities expected to begin in 2019.”
The US firm is transitioning from being a maker of silicon computer chips to a data-centric company, with activities ranging from the manufacturing of chips to developing safety features in vehicles, wireless phone connections, drones and cloud-based technologies.
An $11 billion infusion by Intel would be one of the largest ever into the Israeli economy, topped only by Intel’s purchase of car software maker Mobileye in 2017.
Since setting up operations in Israel in 1974, the US firm has made cumulative investments and acquisitions of some $35 billion in Israel, as of May 2018, and has grown into the largest private sector employer in the high-tech industry, employing 11,000 workers.
Aside from the manufacturing plant in Kiryat Gat, in the northern Negev, Intel has R&D centers in Jerusalem, Peah Tikva and Haifa.
There was no immediate confirmation from either Intel or the Finance Ministry.
Senate advances anti-BDS bills as Congress resumes work after shutdown
Lawmakers overwhelmingly pass Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act, which will protect states targeting Israel boycotters, enshrine military aid to Israel in law
BBC dismisses calls to boycott Eurovision Song Contest
Broadcaster says it will broadcast event, to take place in Tel Aviv, saying it 'does not endorse any political message or campaign'
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