U.S. Senate's First Bill is Anti-BDS Legislation

[yankeedoodle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmUJznEgrgE


U.S. SENATE'S FIRST BILL, IN MIDST OF SHUTDOWN, IS A BIPARTISAN DEFENSE OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT FROM BOYCOTTS
https://theintercept.com/2019/01/05/u-s-senates-first-bill-in-midst-of-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 new 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, a 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 AIPAC.

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 which 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 which 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 J. Humetewa of Arizona wrote in her decision issuing a preliminary injunction against the law in a case brought last September by the ACLU 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 who 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 long-time 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 which 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 which are supported by AIPAC. Rubio's bill last Congress was cosponsored by a several Democrats who are still in the Senate: Bob Menendez, N.J.; Joe Manchin, W.Va.; Ben Cardin, Md.; Ron Wyden, Ore.; Gary Peters, Mich.; and Debbie Stabenow, Mich.

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, Sen. 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 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 United States 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 Sen. 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 long-time Israel advocate but also as a supporter of the First Amendment – takes it up and passes it into law.

[yankeedoodle]

Pretty hard to believe, but, it seems that the jews have decided to at least pretend to put America first - not really America, but the fight over Donnie-boy's wall - and have decided that poor little Israhell can wait a little while before they get around to voting on punishing Americans for supporting BDS,

Senate is unlikely to debate BDS — so long as gov't remains shut down
https://mondoweiss.net/2019/01/significant-democrats-support/

Update: Earlier today we reported that the Senate will be debating the boycott of Israel tomorrow when a Senate bill comes to the floor containing "Middle East Security" provisions including a measure to punish those who call for boycotting Israel. That debate would divide Democrats, many of whom object to the legislation as a curb on free speech.

But reports from a couple of sources tonight indicate that the bill may not come to the Senate floor. Too many Democrats have indicated that they will block its progress until the first order of business, the government shutdown, is addressed. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post reports the names of 17 Democratic Senators who will stand in the way of the bill. That list includes at least two key supporters of the Israel boycott legislation, Chuck Schumer and Cory Booker, and one sponsor of it, Maryland's Ben Cardin.

The Washington Post reports widespread support among Democrats to block the legislation.

Democrats are coalescing behind a plan to block any legislation on the floor that doesn't reopen the federal government.

Privately, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has told the rest of his caucus that he would vote against advancing the first bill on the Senate floor this year, a measure that would authorize security assistance to Israel and includes provisions aimed at promoting security in the Middle East.

Jeff Stein reported that even though it may hurt his pro-Israel credentials, Schumer is against the bill because of the optics of the shutdown, and under pressure from liberal groups.

"Minority Leader @SenSchumer (D-NY) has started telling the caucus he will vote against the BDS sanctions bill because the government shutdown remains unresolved @ChrisVanHollen, @IndivisibleTeam, @MoveOn and a number of others pushed this strategy over the weekend."

Original post:

Something that has never happened before is about to happen in the U.S. Senate: there's going to be a wide-open battle over Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), as part of efforts to end the government shutdown, no less!

Tomorrow the Senate is due to debate S.1, the first Senate bill of the new session, and it contains legislation to limit advocacy for BDS. And everyone is letting down their hair. Republicans are seeking to portray the Democrats as the party that is abandoning Israel, while many Democrats are already lining up against the bill as counter to American freedoms. They know the Democratic base is plainly against this bill, with Ayman Mohyeldin saying it violates our civil rights on MSNBC.

Bill sponsor Marco Rubio tweets today that "a significant #" of Democrats are for BDS:
The shutdown is not the reason Senate Democrats don't want to move to Middle East Security Bill.

A huge argument broke out at Senate Dem meeting last week over BDS. A significant # of Senate Democrats now support #BDS & Dem leaders want to avoid a floor vote that reveals that.

Rubio is right that establishment Dems don't want this battle. NY Senator Chuck Schumer is reportedly out there working for the legislation, and Cory Booker is alone among Dem presidential likelys in being for it too. The Washington Post's Paul Waldman has slammed Booker as cynical for using the Pittsburgh massacre as his justification for seeking to crimp U.S. civil rights.

Bernie Sanders is leading opposition to the bill–though contrary to Rubio's suggestion, he had never supported BDS:
It's absurd that the first bill during the shutdown is legislation which punishes Americans who exercise their constitutional right to engage in political activity. Democrats must block consideration of any bills that don't reopen the government. Let's get our priorities right.

Chris van Hollen of Maryland is clearly referring to Israel in this tweet:
Senate Democrats should block consideration of any bills unrelated to opening the government until Sen. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans allow a vote on the bipartisan bills the House passed to open the government...

And as for Democrats who actually support BDS, the new congresswoman from Michigan, Rashida Tlaib, says the Senate is thinking of Israel's interests first.

They forgot what country they represent. This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality. Maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, then get back to opening up our government instead of taking our rights away.

The Intercept's report on the legislation says the same thing. The Israel lobby wants this law:
according to multiple sources involved in the legislative process, S.1 will be a compendium containing a handful of foreign-policy related measures, a 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 AIPAC.

The JTA says more about the Middle East Security bill:
Included in Rubio's bill is a version of a bill that languished in the last Congress that would establish federal legal protections for states passing laws divesting pension funds from groups that boycott Israel.

That section of Rubio's bill is called "The Combating BDS Act of 2019," referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

Last month Sanders and Dianne Feinstein wrote to the Senate leadership denouncing similar legislation of the last session.

While we do not support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, we remain resolved to our constitutional oath to defend the right of every American to express their views peacefully without fear of or actual punishment by the government

Josh Ruebner of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights says that tomorrow will see "the first substantive debate on the Senate floor on the right to boycott," with Rubio attempting to paint the Republican Party as the "saviors of Israel" and the Democrats as the party of boycott. In an email to followers today Ruebner reported on how this battle is shaping up, in statehouses and courthouses across the country:
Last Thursday, the Senate's first bill of the new Congress – S.1 – was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and it encourages states to punish people for boycotting for Palestinian rights...

Sen. Rubio's new bill incorporates language from the Combating BDS Act, his unconstitutional bill which we defeated in the last Congress.

The Combating BDS Act calls upon states and cities to enact laws that curtail our constitutional freedoms by denying government contracts to people who boycott for Palestinian rights. In response to lawsuits filed by the ACLU, these types of laws have already been stopped by federal judges in Kansas and Arizona on constitutional grounds, and there are three additional lawsuits currently challenging similar laws in Texas and Arkansas.

(Ruebner urges friends to call the Senate, with this message.)

The Intercept's Ryan Grim and Glenn Greenwald reported the sudden urgency of the Israel Anti-Boycott legislation on Saturday:
That the newly elected United States 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."

So tune in tomorrow. We've always said that the issue of Palestinian human rights needs to be discussed in the central forums of US politics. Now it's finally happening!

[yankeedoodle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghHIz8HQHOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgBrT2AssRw