June 6, 2016

NY governor prohibits free speech about Israel

Salon

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a pro-Israel executive order that will punish people and groups who support a boycott of Israel on behalf of Palestinian human rights.

Legal experts have described this long pending anti-boycott policy as “21st-century McCarthyism,” warning it would effectively create a discriminatory “blacklist” of Palestinian human rights advocates who endorse boycotts like those organized in order to combat U.S.-backed apartheid in South Africa.

Prominent legal organizations including the Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal say these politically motivated anti-boycott policies constitute an unconstitutional attack on the freedom of speech.

“I am signing an Executive Order that says very clearly we are against the BDS movement,” Cuomo tweeted on Sunday.

“If you boycott Israel, New York will boycott you,” he added.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is this a tacit approval for people to criticize / boycott all other countries of the world.

Man, if I were from "Any Other Country", I'd be feeling pretty peeved.

Oh wait...