Disclosure: I haven’t always been anti-Israel. I’m half Jewish (the half that counts) and in my youth I was quite the little Zionist. I spent quite a bit of time in Israel, learned a bit of the language, and from some time in 1977 until February of 1979, I served in the IDF, that organization which is now committing crimes against humanity every day.
So, I am horrified at what is happening now. Soldiers harassing and abusing small children, soldiers shooting at journalists and medics, soldiers shooting unarmed civilians, settlers stealing Palestinian’s homes, bulldozing them to the ground while soldiers watch, settlers uprooting olive trees which have been on the land for centuries (once upon a time, planting trees and greening the landscape was a big part of the Zionist ethic), settlers sitting on a hillside with snacks and soft drinks, cheering as they watch bombs falling on Gaza, cheering for death.
There is absolutely no doubt these are bad things, and there is little doubt among objective observers that the onus for this lies entirely on Israel.
And yet, Chuck Schumer (D-supposedly) and Marco Rubio (R) are co-sponsoring legislation which will punish people for speaking out against Israel, or for supporting the BDS movement by, for instance, refusing to buy Israeli products. I don’t know if it mentioned jail time or fines, but government employees -teachers, cops, firemen, etc… could lose their jobs. Some states already have laws like this and a teacher in Texas was recently fired for refusing to sign a loyalty pledge to Israel.
This is blatantly unconstitutional. It is downright un-American. Freedom of speech means you can complain, or protest against, or refuse to buy products from anybody you damned well please. People criticized the hell out of Miley Cyrus because she made a couple of slutty videos. Right wing loons have been boycotting Jane Fonda for decades. People will boycott food products at the drop of a hat over the use of one wrong ingredient.
Can you imagine the U.S. government saying you weren’t allowed to protest against Canada, or Japan?
No, it’s just Israel, and it’s so blatantly unconstitutional and unAmerican that you have to wonder what is motivating Schumer and Rubio. (and I’m sure they’re not the only ones – this bill actually has a chance of passing) Could it be that Israel knows something they do not want revealed – maybe about 9/11, maybe about the June, 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty? Could it be that Israel has been financing lots of political campaigns in the U.S., filling our congress with moles? Could the crazy ‘Zionists control the world economy’ people actually be right? Could they be trying to bring about Armageddon, believing themselves to be among the righteous?
It almost has to be something huge like that, and I wish I knew what it was.
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