“The effort here is to impose the greatest possible reputational harm and business costs on Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever,” both to reverse the policy and send a chilling message to other companies, Lara Friedman, president of the Washington-based Foundation for Middle East Peace, told Foreign Policy. ‘But this was the point of these anti-BDS laws: redefining support for Israel as support for Israel and its permanent control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem.’”

“Lara Friedman, who tracks anti-BDS legislation as president of the Foundation of Middle East Peace, said she expected states to act swiftly. Lara Friedman, who tracks anti-BDS legislation as president of the Foundation of Middle East Peace, said she expected states to act swiftly. ‘For legislators trying to make a really political statement, I don’t see them saying, ‘Well let’s wait and see,’” she said, adding that settlement boycott opponents will likely be “scrubbing the books in the states that have these laws to see if they can take some punitive action.’”

At the end of 2016 new legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate entitled, the “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016” (S.10 & HR…

“Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace said that while some state-level anti-BDS laws have been called unconstitutional along the way, none of the laws stipulate that boycotting Israel or settlements is illegal, nor will anyone face legal repercussions for boycotting in a state with an anti-BDS law on its books. ‘When people talk about BDS laws barring boycotts, they can’t bar people from boycotting but they can try to attach a punishment. The punishment selected is ‘If you do this, you can’t enjoy the benefits of taxpayer-funded contracts,’ Friedman said. ‘This is an illegal, unconstitutional condition, which is why courts have been so unfriendly to these laws.'”

1. Bills, Resolutions & Letters 2. FY22 Defense Appropriations (House) 3. Hearings & Markups 4. On the Record *Brought to you in cooperation with Americans…

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement & Annexation Report. To subscribe to this report, please click here. July 16, 2021 The E-1 Settlement is Back on the…