AIPAC's Puppets in Congress Prepare to Criminalize Political Speech and Activism Against the Apartheid State of Israel By Frank Scott Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, June 4, 2018

“The criminalization of political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the West. But now, a group of 43 senators--29 Republicans and 14 Democrats--wants to implement a law that would make it a felony for Americans to support the international boycott against Israel, which was launched in protest of that country’s decades-old occupation of Palestine.

The two primary sponsors of the bill are Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is the 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.

The proposed measure, called the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), was introduced by Cardin on March 23. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that the bill “was drafted with the assistance of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.” Indeed, AIPAC, in its 2017 lobbying agenda, identified passage of this bill as one of its top lobbying priorities for the year.

 The bill’s co-sponsors include the senior Democrat in Washington, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, his New York colleague Kirsten Gillibrand, and several of the Senate’s more liberal members, such as Ron Wyden of Oregon, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Maria Cantwell of Washington.

(This) illustrates the bipartisanship that AIPAC typically summons, it also includes several of the most right-wing senators such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Marco Rubio of Florida. A similar measure was introduced in the House on the same date by two Republicans and one Democrat. It has already amassed 234 co-sponsors: 63 Democrats and 174 Republicans.

As in the Senate, AIPAC has assembled an impressive ideological diversity among supporters, predictably including many of the most right-wing House members-- Jason Chaffetz, Liz Cheney, Peter King--along with the second-ranking Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer.”    Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Grim. 

http://legalienate.blogspot.com/

The Bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/720

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