Recently NY and CA passed bills to ban companies from dealing with BDS organizations (Boycott/Divest/Sanction Israel).  Well regardless of what you think about BDS, they were successful in forcing G4S to divest their holdings in abusive Israel prisons and youth detention facilities in Florida.  Also, G4S gave Omar Mateen a gun permit despite knowledge that the FBI was radicalizing him.  They are bad guys, and they were held to account (somewhat) by BDS.  Yet, if you are a company in CA working for the state, it is a criminal offense to have ties with BDS.  Scary stuff.  Of course, the law will get overturned by the courts (we hope), but until then, how much damage can it cause?

In fact, top Nazi propagandists were radicalized under Weimar ‘blasphemy’ laws originally intended to protect the Jews from the ‘blood libel’.  Needless to say, things didn’t work out too well.  These ‘well-intentioned’ laws inevitably backfire – for 2 main reasons.  First of all, they radicalize people while they are sitting in prison – where they are unlikely to see the error of their ways; and secondly, they can be used as justification for extra-judicial enforcement.  This is particularly problematic in Europe, where ‘hate speech’ laws are common.  Jihadis say, “Impugning our religion is forbidden by law.  So if France refuses to perform its responsibility, then we will do it for them.”  And yes, they actually use this argument to justify their attacks.

Furthermore, if you protect one group then you must protect all, such as Muslims, blacks, drug users, mentally ill, etc.  Otherwise it is blatantly hypocritical.  Some knowledge of history  and a little imagination show why these laws eventually backfire.  Recently, 60 Minutes did a segment showing how the Americans with Disabilities Act ended up creating resentments toward them, and hurt integration and acceptance.

So the “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act”, sponsored by Senators Bob Casey (R-PA) and Tim Scott (D-NC), is a grave threat to freedom in this country.  It passed the Senate unanimously and will likely become law.  If so, it will be a momentous and very uncharacteristic setback in the otherwise continuous progress of First Amendment protections that Americans enjoy – and which made the country great in the first place.  (Not to mention – made this web site possible!)

Notably, Keith Ellison, whose history of anti-Semitism disqualifies him as DNC chair according to Alan Dershowitz and the ADL, is a strong supporter of this law.  Ironically, Dersh supports Steve Bannon and Trump, who really are anti-Semitic (even if they are pro-Zionist).  Chuck Schumer backs Ellison, probably because of his support for this law.  One can easily imagine how Trump, Flynn and Sessions will exploit this law to instigate violence and strife with Muslims, leading to nuclear war.  Literally.

At the same time, Jews are being forced to take sides for or against Netanyahu, who is a Jew-supremacist much as Trump is a White-Supremacist.  I actually prefer Ellison for DNC chair because his election would be a huge blow to the Hasbara culture that agitates for anti-BDS, often by playing rabid anti-Semites online.  Once they are discredited, it will be easy to vitiate their anti-free-speech agenda.

The law must be resisted in every way possible.  All Americans, and especially Jews, must violate it as a form of non-violent protest.   Even if you must pretend to be an anti-Semite – oh the irony!