Friends of Israel find that it cuts two ways
No
group in the United States has labored so hard as the friends of Israel to destroy the First Amendment to the Constitution,
which commits the government to prohibit any “abridging the freedom of
speech…or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” Ironically, of
course, Congressmen and government officials who have taken an oath to uphold
the Constitution against all enemies domestic and foreign have themselves been
cheerleaders as the Israel Lobby carries out its devastation of the fundamental
rights of every American. Many in government at all levels repeatedly boast
about their undying love for the Jewish state, which is a foreign nation and no
ally, even as they enthusiastically sign on to legislation that criminalizes
criticism of Israel or requires recipients of government funding to sign a
no-boycott pledge.
Hubristic
due to their great political power, wealth and arrogance, what the Israel
firsters tend to forget is the old homespun warning that “what is good for the
goose is good for the gander.” Change the rules for what people can say or do
and it will sooner or later come back to haunt you when you want to speak or
associate freely.
In
the past, Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) traditionally
fought for free speech and association to advance their own tribal interest as
they frequently promoted unpopular left-wing causes that most of the population
opposed. Most American communists were Jews, for example. Now that that
particular battle has been won they have switched gears in their war against
what they perceive as anti-Semitism and have become leaders in the promotion of
hate crime legislation, censorship of criticism of Jews and Israel on the
internet, and legislation that would criminalize or otherwise punish supporters
of an anti-Israel boycott.
Twenty-eight
states currently have legislation penalizing those who support the non-violent
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and there are several bills
pending in Congress that would do the same on the federal level, including one
piece of legislation, The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, that includes
criminal financial penalties and prison time for those convicted. The original version of the bill included
draconian punishment: “Anyone guilty of violating the prohibitions will face a
minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million
and 20 years in prison.”
And
the White House is equally engaged in the hot war against any and all aspects
of anti-Semitism. President Donald Trump has recently signed an executive orderthat defines being
Jewish as both a nationality and religion under Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, making it easier for the Department of Education to cut the
funding for institutions that allow speakers, organizations and events that the
White House regards as “anti-Semitic.” BDS is one such organization and has
been particularly targeted.
There
have recently been two stories that illustrate what might happen when one wants
to limit what people can say. The first involves highly respected international journalist Abby Martin.
Martin
is a former teleSUR presenter and is best known as the creator of The Empire
Files. She earlier in her career worked at Russia Today as an interviewer and
investigative journalist. She is politically progressive and a critic of
Israel’s apartheid government. Abby Martin was recently barred from speaking at
a planned late February International Critical Media Literacy Conference that
was going to be held at Georgia Southern University. Her crime consisted of
refusing to “sign a contractual pledge to not boycott Israel,” which had
nothing to do with the conference itself. In Georgia, as well as in a number of
other states, anyone receiving money, or using state facilities has to confirm
in writing that he or she will be in compliance with the state’s anti-BDS law.
Martin,
who has also been subjected to censorship on YouTube, tweeted subsequently,
“After I was scheduled to give a keynote speech at an upcoming Georgia Southern
conference, organizers said I must comply with Georgia’s anti-BDS law. I
refused and my talk was canceled. The event fell apart after colleagues
supported me.” In a separate message she added “This censorship of my talk
based on forced compliance to anti-BDS laws in Georgia is just one level of a
nationwide campaign to protect Israel from grassroots pressure. We must stand
firmly opposed to these efforts and not cower in fear to these blatant
violations of free speech.”
The
second story, which appeared in the Miami Herald and the Jerusalem
Post, describes how a veteran police officer with
thirty-eight years on the force in the southern Florida town of Bay Harbor
Islands was suspended because his wife posted comments describing Palestinian
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib as a “Hamas-loving anti-Semite.” He “Liked” her comments, which resulted in the
action taken against him.
The
officer, identified as one Corporal Pablo Lima, is currently on administrative
leave and will have to submit to an internal affairs investigation. The town’s
manager J.C. Jimenez issued a statement that “The content of the social media
posts that were brought to our attention are not consistent with our Town’s
values and policies.” The town’s police department explicitly prohibits any
expressions by employees that “ridicules, maligns, disparages, or otherwise
expresses bias against any gender, race, religion, or any protected class of
individuals.”
Corporal
Lima’s wife, Haifa-born Israeli Anabelle Lima-Taub, is no stranger to
controversy involving her country of birth. She is the city commissioner for
nearby Hallandale Beach, where she was censured at a January 23rd special
meeting over Facebook posts that also related to Tlaib, repeating the claim
that the Congresswoman was a “Hamas-loving anti-Semite,” and also adding that
Tlaib might be considering making herself and others “martyr[s] and blow up
Capitol Hill.” The Hallandale Beach board vote against Lima-Taub passed by 3 to
2, but it was also reported that dozens of Jewish supporters had attended the
meeting at city hall, waving Israeli flags and holding signs supporting her
statements.
Lima-Taub
responded to the rebuke by repeating her claims in later social network posts.
She complained in one post that “I am offended by anyone who is NOT OFFENDED by
Rashida Tlaib’s hateful rhetoric and pro BDS and other radical dangerous views
calling for the obliteration of Israel, literally off the face of the map. I
remain unapologetic for my views that she is a danger to the peace process and
demand an apology of her for relabeling Israel as Palestine on a map hanging on
her wall in her congressional office.”
And
it did not end there Lima-Taub gave an interview to the Miami Herald in
which she explained that she opposes the congresswoman’s support of the
“anti-Israeli” BDS movement, which she considers to be equivalent to supporting
Hamas and Hezbollah. Lima-Taub’s posts on the subject attracted some vitriol
directed at Tlaib from her supporters, including that Tlaib “took her
[congressional] oath on the Koran,” “openly hates Jews” and “supports the
people who flew planes into our [New York] twin towers and killed over 5,000
people.”
Anabelle
Lima-Taub has blamed her husband’s troubles on “corruption” and an unnamed
lobbyist, but she might well exercise a bit of introspection and realize that
her inability to criticize Muslims without consequences to her and her husband
is part and parcel of the same mentality that seeks to criminalize whatever one
chooses to call “hate speech,” which includes expressions of “anti-Semitism.”
Free speech is free speech, no matter how loathsome or misguided. Government officials
should be allowed to express private opinions outside the parameters of their
public responsibilities, just as students at a university should be able to
invite speakers to controversial conferences or seminars without requiring
those invited to sign a paper pledging that they will not criticize a certain
country. Once you let the genie out of the bottle and allow rules-makers to
take away fundamental rights it is very hard to induce that genie to go back
in.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is
Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax
deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a
more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157,
Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.