US Senators Pushing for 20 Years in Prison for Citizens Who Support Boycotting Israel

[Fweethawt]

What in the actual fuck???

 

http://theantimedia.org/boycotting-israel-20-years-prison/

 

United States senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties are pushing to implement a bill that would make it a felony to support boycotting Israel, punishable by up to twenty years in prison. 

[Fweethawt]

45 senators support bill that makes boycotting Israel a crime -- 

A bill that would criminalise boycotts against Israel has been signed by 45 US senators and 237 congressman.

 

The so-called “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” would impose fines of up to $250,000 (£192,000) on any US citizen “engaged in interstate or foreign commerce” who supports a boycott of Israeli goods and services.

[Fweethawt]

Boycotting Israel Could Soon Land You in Prison - https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43dp7j/boycotting-israel-could-soon-land-you-in-prison-vgtrn

 

A Senate bill with bipartisan support could punish those who avoid purchasing Israeli goods on political grounds with up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

[buffettphan]

  I saw that Ted Cruz is one of the supporters.  Not surprising.   I'd like to see the complete list of supporters -- and boycott them!   

[mwc]

     Wait, so normally political protests are the reason we can do things in the U.S. but does that now mean if you want to boycott Israel you would have to say you're doing it for racist reasons and that might be okay?  What the fuck is going on?

 

          mwc

 

[Vigile]

I'd point out that this is completely unconstitutional, but who pays attention to that piece of paper these days? 

[Vigile]

 

 

McKinney is a former congresswoman from Georgia I believe.

[Tsathoggua9]

Holy shit!  Have these fuckwits gone completely insane? We really need to throw all these lunatics outta the gummit, pronto! 

[Vigile]

13 minutes ago, Tsathoggua9 said:

Holy shit!  Have these fuckwits gone completely insane? We really need to throw all these lunatics outta the gummit, pronto! 

 

We need to address things like AIPAC first, otherwise, the next round of stooges will be the same. See my McKinney vid above to see just how much influence the Israeli lobby has on our congress. 

[sdelsolray]

I fail to see how such a law would not violate the US Constitution, as amended.

[★ Citsonga ★]

Sounds pretty bad, but then a Google search turned up this:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/pay-no-mind-to-the-fake-ruckus-about-a-phony-israel-anti-boycott-law

 

I haven't taken the time to read the law myself.

 

[Vigile]

12 hours ago, sdelsolray said:

I fail to see how such a law would not violate the US Constitution, as amended.

 

Even the CIA-backed rag WaPo can see that it violates the 1st Amendment:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-piece-of-pro-israel-legislation-is-a-serious-threat-to-free-speech/2017/07/24/0752d408-7093-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.64fd8d3e21aa

 

But frankly, the ACLU is a much more informed source: https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/first-amendment-protects-right-boycott-israel

 

I don't understand how anyone could even dispute this or even want to. It's a prima facie violation of every ideal we are told our country stands for.  

[padgemi]

Wow!  You know they've lost their minds when the penalty for boycotting Israel will far exceed the penalty for boycotting the IRS!

 

Question: are party politics a totally open topic on this forum?  Another forum I like heavily censors politics.  It's really their only rule.

 

btw, my party affiliation is anti-partisan.  I voted for Johnson even though he's a total goob. 

[buffettphan]

1 hour ago, padgemi said:

Wow!  You know they've lost their minds when the penalty for boycotting Israel will far exceed the penalty for boycotting the IRS!

 

Question: are party politics a totally open topic on this forum?  Another forum I like heavily censors politics.  It's really their only rule.

 

btw, my party affiliation is anti-partisan.  I voted for Johnson even though he's a total goob. 

 

@padgemi

Hi and welcome to Ex-C.

 

Politics may be discussed in the Totally Off Topic sub-forum and pretty much anything goes short of name-calling/personal attacks of members.  Be warned though, it is a part of ex-c that may not be suitable for thin skins.   

[Vigile]

9 hours ago, padgemi said:

Wow!  You know they've lost their minds when the penalty for boycotting Israel will far exceed the penalty for boycotting the IRS!

 

Question: are party politics a totally open topic on this forum?  Another forum I like heavily censors politics.  It's really their only rule.

 

btw, my party affiliation is anti-partisan.  I voted for Johnson even though he's a total goob. 

 

Congress has always been out of touch, but they are living in la la land these days. Yesterday the Senate just passed, nearly unanimously, new sanctions on Russia. This is pretty much par for the course these days, but these sanctions attempt to force Europeans to buy US LNG gas, which is far less efficient than Russian gas, costs far more money and requires massive amounts of refining before it can be used. Instead of buying Russian gas, which is pipelined in, congress is telling Europeans they have to buy liquid gas which comes in on expensive ships. IOW, they sanctioned their European partners and barely even had a debate over it first. 

 

In case there is any question, Germany and the rest of Europe are going to tell the US to get fucked here. The ruble and Russian bonds barely moved yesterday on news of the new sanctions. 

[Vigile]

http://mondoweiss.net/2017/07/crossing-politicians-suddenly/

 

Crossing AIPAC leaves writers smeared, politicians’ careers ‘suddenly stalled’ — Sullivan

 

One of the features you most associate with creeping authoritarianism is the criminalization of certain political positions. Is anything more anathema to a liberal democracy? If Trump were to suggest it, can you imagine the reaction?