The Israeli government has been accused of violating the right to free expression by approving a law that penalises individuals and organisations that call for boycotts against Israel.
The law effectively bans any public call for a boycott — economic, cultural or academic — against Israel or any area under its control, such as the occupied Palestinian territories, making such action a punishable offence.
An editorial in the New York Times, Not befitting a democracy, says the law tarnishes Israel's reputation and argues that it is a fundamental issue of free speech.
It concludes: "Opponents are already challenging the law in court. We hope they succeed, for Israel's sake."
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is also opposed to the boycott prohibition law, which passed through parliament on a 47-38 vote.
In an editorial, it calls the law "a politically opportunistic and anti-democratic act, the latest in a series of outrageously discriminatory and exclusionary laws enacted over the past year."
If the law reaches the statute book, it would enable Israeli citizens to sue people and organisations instigating such boycotts, and subject offenders to fines.
Companies and organisations supporting a boycott risk being barred from bidding on government contracts, and non-profit groups could lose their tax-exempt status.
"Whatever one thinks of boycotts, a law that punishes peaceful advocacy in opposition to government policies is a bald-faced attempt to muzzle public debate," says Human Rights Watch.
And the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) contends that the law will lead to a "steep rise in the number of violations committed against journalists [in the occupied Palestinian territories] and a further suppression of Palestinian voices."
The law's sponsor, Zeev Elkin of the Likud, the conservative party led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said it was a necessary tool in Israel's fight against its "global delegitimisation".
Sources: New York Times/Haaretz/IFEX
