Ilhan Omar likens her anti-Semitic BDS boycott to Nazis, the holocaust, war with Japan
Under fire from U.S. President Trump and ahead of a newly-announced trip to Israel and the West Bank, Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has introduced a resolution championing “the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights.”
The resolution, referred to the House Judiciary Committee this week, is clearly aimed at countering legislative efforts to outlaw the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, while the Minnesota Rep. claims she and her remarks are not anti-Semitic.
The resolution affirms that “all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution” and “opposes unconstitutional legislative efforts to limit the use of boycotts to further civil rights at home and abroad.” Finally, it “urges Congress, States, and civil rights leaders from all communities to endeavor to preserve the freedom of advocacy for all by opposing anti-boycott resolutions and legislation.”
Among examples of America’s “proud history of participating in boycotts to advocate for human rights abroad” the resolution cites “boycotting Nazi Germany from March 1933 to October 1941 in response to the dehumanization of the Jewish people in the lead-up to the Holocaust.”
The resolution cites other instances of international boycotts by “Americans of conscience”: Boycotting Imperial Japan in the run-up to WWII, the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the boycott of South African goods during the Apartheid era.
The resolution was immediately applauded by the BDS movement.
“It reassures us that progressives, including in Congress, are defending freedom of expression and the right of oppressed communities, including Palestinians, to peacefully fight for their rights,” Hind Awwad, a spokesperson for the BDS Movement, said in a statement.
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[…] Ilhan Omar likens her anti-Semitic BDS boycott to Nazis, the holocaust, war with Japan […]