Did Obama Just Make It Kosher To Boycott Settlements?
Source: The Forward, February 29, 2016
Last week, President Obama made the strongest statement to date that settlement boycotts are a legitimate tactic for liberal pro-Israel groups and activists to use. Although he certainly did not phrase it that way, his language suggests that a position considered beyond the pale when Peter Beinart advocated it just a few years ago — “partial BDS” or “Zionist BDS” — is now apparently mainstream enough for him, the president of the United States.
Upon signing a trade bill that included punitive measures for companies that boycott Israel and its settlements, Obama announced that his administration would only enforce the bill’s protections as they apply to Israel proper, not the settlements.
Fierce controversy has since erupted over the bill itself and the president’s signing statement. Supporters of the bill’s provisions targeting boycotts of Israel and the occupied West Bank frame them as part of a bipartisan effort to halt the momentum of the BDS movement, which they see as part of a global effort to delegitimize Israel. But liberal pro-Israel groups have argued that shielding the settlements from boycott amounts to a stealth move to legislate U.S. support for settlements and strengthen the occupation, now nearing its 50th year.
For the first time, Obama has distinguished between the BDS movement writ large and settlement boycotts. With liberal Jews increasingly convinced that the Israeli government will not act to end the occupation without outside incentive, pressure is building on dovish pro-Israel groups to adopt more radical tactics. Obama’s move will push left-leaning pro-Israel groups to reconsider whether the time is right to refashion the boycott tactic for their own purposes.
Read more:http://forward.com/opinion/334502/did-obama-just-make-it-kosher-to-boycott-settlements/
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