“Lawyers and advocates for Palestinian rights, however, say that anti-BDS laws don’t actually differentiate between types of boycotts and divestment, and that companies divesting from Israel over the judicial overhaul could still be affected by the laws. Many states’ anti-BDS laws define a ‘boycott’ as an action ‘intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations’ with Israel. ‘If you’re an Israeli company that is divesting from Israel and terminating business there, I don’t see how you’re not technically in violation of that law, which means you need to be put on a blacklist,’ said Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. ‘There’s very little wiggle room.’…
“Palestinians and their allies see Israel advocates’ reaction to the companies pulling out of Israel as a measure of their hypocrisy. ‘It is perfectly reasonable, it seems, to shun Israeli officials, cut off financial ties, and disrupt public spaces when mainstream Jews call for it,’ Amjad Iraqi wrote in +972 Magazine. ‘But when Palestinians living under Israeli oppression demand the same, their calls are to be scrutinized, rejected, even punished.’ Friedman added in an interview with Jewish Currents that the discrepancy clarifies the purpose of anti-BDS laws. ‘The intent here is to quash free speech on Palestine. This is not about protecting Israel from boycott. It’s about crushing activism on Palestine,’ she said.”