Media

  • As companies raise alarm about judicial plan, a question: When is it OK to boycott Israel? (The Forward)

    “Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, which works on Palestinian human rights issues, who has tracked anti-boycott laws since 2014, said that many Israel advocacy groups only seem concerned about actions that companies take over Palestinian human rights concerns. Friedman said that state laws that bar companies that boycott Israel from receiving state contracts were clearly written with Palestinian advocacy in mind, but that the language in them would apply to any company — even Israeli firms — that decide to move money out of Israel if the court overhaul is approved. To take a representative example, in Illinois the state pension board is barred from investing in companies that engage ‘in actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the State of Israel.’ ‘I could imagine there are people who would say, ‘Fine, technically these companies might come into conflict with the laws, but that’s clearly not the intent and it’s ridiculous to have this conversation,’’ Friedman said. ‘That’s quite clarifying.’”

  • FMEP Legislative Round-Up: March 13, 2023

    1.Bills, Resolutions & Letters 2. Hearings 3. Media & Reports 4. Members on the Record (Palestine/Palestinians) 5. Members on the Record (Israel) 6. Members on…

  • Settlement & Annexation Report: March 10, 2023

    Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week. To subscribe to this report, please click here.…

  • ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals (Jewish Currents)

    “Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, said that even if Greenblatt is drawing some distinction between anti-Zionists and violent white nationalists, he is affirming that ‘because you don’t support the establishment of a Jewish ethno-religious state at the expense of Palestinians, you are ipso facto responsible for what actual antisemites do and say.’ Friedman said this is ‘intellectually dishonest,’ as it’s ‘predicated on the premise that there exist no legitimate reasons for rejection of Zionism that are unrelated to hatred of Jews, and morally indefensible logic because it cheapens and politicizes the very concept of antisemitism, equating legitimate viewpoints and non-violent protest with groups who are motivated by unabashed hatred of Jewish people.’”