Policy Analysis
Abstract

This paper focuses on a bill currently going through Congress that would restrict the right of Americans to voice their support for the oppressed and marginalized Palestinian people by joining in the BDS Movement. This paper discusses why this issue is important to social welfare policy and shows that the bill would deny people the right to advocate by using social, political and economic means. The opposition towards the Israeli settlement practices in Palestine has already been condemned by the UN, but the U.S. Congress is now seeking not only to condemn the UN for its 2016 resolution against Israel, but it is also seeking to condemn any American person engaged in interstate commerce who chooses to support the UN resolution by boycotting Israeli products. This bill therefore would marginalize and socially, politically and economically exclude Americans in a dangerous way. This policy analysis paper also shows how already people are being marginalized and even fired from their jobs for not signing pro-Israel contracts or for criticizing the Israeli lobby’s practices among Congressmen. This paper also goes on to discuss the importance of this issue to social welfare and to show why this issue has to be addressed urgently.

Keywords: UN resolution Israel, BDS Movement, social welfare justice, social justice

Introduction

The BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) Movement has prompted the U.S. to respond with a bill that will essentially prohibit Americans from boycotting Israeli companies. The controversy stems from the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution of March 24, 2016, “which urges countries to pressure companies to divest from, or break contracts with, Israel” (H.R. 1697, 2018) because of the latter’s observed human rights abuses towards the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Banks, where illegal Israeli settlements have been installed. The bill would allow the U.S. to sanction countries that boycott Israel and it would allow the federal government to prohibit any individual who operates in interstate commerce in the U.S. from joining a boycott like the BDS Movement, which is international in character. This is an issue that is important for social welfare because it would deny one of the Constitutional rights to Americans—the right to free speech and the right to protest foreign governments that are themselves opposed to human rights, as the UN resolution of 2016 showed was clearly the case in Israel. The full extent of this bill can already be seen in the way criticism of Israel is strongly forbidden in the public sector. For instance, newly-elected Representative Ilhan Omar criticized publicly the role of AIPAC (the American-Israel Political Action Committee) in the affairs of Congress and suggest that AIPAC buys off members of Congress to always support Israeli issues and concerns. She was severely rebuked by both sides of the political aisle for her words and forced to issue an apology (Stolberg, 2019). However, as Greenwald (2019) showed, everything she said and insinuated was true. Thus, this bill serves as a challenge to social inclusion and the right of people to speak freely and to have their own social welfare protected if they dare oppose or object to the actions of a seemingly politically protected group of people.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy analysis paper is to examine the bill put forward in Congress and to show why it would threaten social welfare and lead to the further marginalization of those who oppose the protected political classes designated as untouchable and unassailable by their political protectors. The impact of the problem is not just that it would violate the First Amendment rights of Americans but that it would also lead to instances of social exclusion, as has already happened in Texas, where a similar law led to the firing of a teacher who did not pledge in her contract with her school to support Israel (Moritz-Rabson, 2018). If this bill were to pass, it would make it a criminal offense for any American who engages in business to join the BDS Movement. It would lead to people becoming social...…practices, and the ability to stand up for the oppressed Palestinians or for other Americans who lose their jobs or incomes because of their refusal to support pro-Israel policies would be eroded.

The affected populations and communities of this bill would be those who believe strongly in opposing nations who violate human rights and who engage in behavior that is condemned by the UN. The UN resolution of 2016 showed that Israel was illegally occupying Palestinian territories and had been doing so since 1967. Israel was settling land that did not belong to it and is still doing so. That is why the BDS Movement came into being—so as to put pressure on Israel to stop repressing and marginalizing the Palestinians. Now American individuals and groups who wish to stand up for the Palestinians are being marginalized and repressed themselves thanks to the bill that Congress is pushing through. Therefore, it is of critical importance to social welfare, not just in the U.S., but in the Middle East as well that this issue be addressed from the right perspective because it is about ensuring that people be allowed to stand up for social justice and human rights and be allowed to advocate and take political, social and economic action in the service of promoting human rights and ending the human rights abuses of nations like Israel.

Conclusion

The problem of human rights is one that very much concerns social welfare advocates no matter where they live or what country they are part of. For a country’s legislators to create a bill that would punish Americans for voicing concern about the human rights abuses of a country known for its apartheid practices is for the social welfare of the public to be threatened. This policy analysis paper looks to examine the bill currently going through Congress that would punish American businessmen for boycotting Israel in an effort to engage in political, social and economic activism against the apartheid state of Israel.