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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: May 7, 2015 03:22 PM
From: Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf
To: All Senate members
Subject: Condemning Economic, Social, Cultural and Other Boycotts of Israel and Growing Incidents of Anti-Semitism
 
I plan to introduce a resolution condemning economic, social, cultural and other boycotts of Israel and growing incidents of anti-Semitism.

The citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have a history of standing against bigotry, oppression, discrimination, and injustice. The Commonwealth and Israel have a long history of friendship and are great allies in support of each other’s interests. The State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, is the greatest friend and ally of the United States in the Middle East.

Pennsylvania has strong cultural, economic, social, business, governmental, art, education, and activities between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of Israel, further strengthening the historic ties between this Commonwealth and that country. The elected representatives of Pennsylvania recognize the importance of expressing their unabridged support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel’s right to exist and the right of self-defense.

The first attempt to boycott Jewish interests in the Pennsylvania Colony occurred in 1662 and was rejected when Sir Robert Carr, in 1664, assumed command of the Delaware in the name of the English crown. The instructions to Carr were that “all people should enjoy the liberty of their conscience,” and the proposed boycott did not occur. American Jews sided overwhelmingly with the American Revolution, and Haim Solomon, a Philadelphia citizen, was a major financier of the American Revolution, although he died penniless and bankrupt.

There are increasing incidents of anti-Semitism around the world, including across the United States and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reflected in official hate crime statistics. The international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-Semitism and advocating the elimination of the Jewish State. Activities promoting BDS against Israel have increased in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including on some college and university campuses and other Pennsylvania communities, and contribute to anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist propaganda. The dramatic increase in BDS campaign activities on college campuses around the country has resulted in increased animosity and intimidation against Jewish students, negatively impacting student programming related to the State of Israel and politics in the Middle East.

Leaders of the BDS movement say their goal is to eliminate Israel as the home of the Jewish people. Signs and messaging at anti-Israel rallies in Pennsylvania have adopted the BDS slogan, “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” meaning there would be no Israel between the Jordan River and Mediterranean, that the State of Israel would cease to exist. Pennsylvania’s elected representatives who defend the inalienable right to free speech understand that the goals and activities of BDS campaigns in Pennsylvania are harmful to the Commonwealth’s relationship with its Jewish citizens and with the Jewish homeland, Israel, and have a deleterious impact on the educational environment. The BDS campaign’s call for academic boycotts have been condemned by many of our nation’s largest academic associations, more than 250 university presidents and many other leading scholars as a violation of the bedrock principle of academic freedom.

Therefore, the Senate condemns the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and its activities in Pennsylvania, for seeking to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, which they are fulfilling in the State of Israel. It also condemns activities which contribute directly or indirectly to the denial, violation, or delegitimization of any people’s academic freedom, including, but not limited to, promotion of academic boycotts by the BDS movement against Israel.

In addition, the Senate considers the international BDS movement and its agenda inherently antithetical and deeply damaging to the causes of peace, justice, equality, democracy, and human rights for all peoples in the Middle East. The Senate reaffirms its support for the State of Israel, recognizes that the Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel, condemns all attacks on the people of Israel, supports Israel’s right to engage in lawful acts of self-defense, and opposes all attempts to deny the legitimacy of Israel as a sovereign state. Finally, the Senate urges the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth to explore whether the BDS movement violates the laws of the Commonwealth, including laws pertaining to antitrust violations, hate crimes, business torts and other matters that may be within its jurisdiction.

It provides that a copy of the resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of each house of Congress, each member of Congress from Pennsylvania, the Office of Attorney General of the Commonwealth, and the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC, for transmission to the proper authorities in the State of Israel.

In April, a similar resolution was adopted by the Tennessee General Assembly.



Introduced as SR136