Mondoweiss – by Nada Elia
On Saturday, March 3rd, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) released an amended version of S.720, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act he had first introduced on March 23rd of last year. The new version of the bill was timed just ahead of the lobbying day of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which held its annual convention in Washington DC over the March 3-4 weekend. AIPAC is asking its supporters to lobby for this amended version of S.720, as well as and S.170, the Combating BDS Act.
In a nutshell, and in non-legalese, S.720 seeks to expand the scope of the 1979 “Export Administration Act,” which prohibits boycotts against Israel, Israeli businesses, and Israeli products, initially called for by Arab countries. The Export Administration Act specifies that it is illegal for Americans to heed a call for a boycott of Israel that is issued by a foreign government or governmental entity. Continue reading “The amended ‘Israel Anti-Boycott Act’ is still unconstitutional, and still must be stopped”