South Carolina becomes first US state to take action against anti-Israel boycotts

South Carolina’s governor has signed into law a bill to stop efforts to boycott, divest and sanction Israel on Thursday afternoon, in a first for the nation on a statewide level.

The bill makes no mention of Israel directly, but prevents public entities from contracting with businesses engaging in the “boycott of a person or an entity based in or doing business with a jurisdiction with whom South Carolina can enjoy open trade.”

The premise of the law is that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, colloquially known as BDS, discriminates against the people of Israel and weakens the economy of South Carolina.

“Boycott,” for the purposes of the law, is defined as the effort by companies to “blacklist, divest from or otherwise refuse to deal with a person or firm when the action is based on race, color, religion, gender or national origin of the targeted person or entity,” according to the text.

Companies also must agree not to engage in boycott activities going forward.

While South Carolina is the first state to adopt such a measure as law, several others are close behind: Illinois lawmakers passed similar legislation last month, also with unanimous support from state representatives.


http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/South...ke-action-against-anti-Israel-boycotts-405120