Gongwer Ohio
May 10, 2016

Dozens of opponents spoke out Tuesday against a measure they say stifles free speech and damages the Middle East peace process. Supporters, however, said the movement to boycott and disinvest from Israel will harm its citizens and damage Ohio’s economy.

The bill (HB 476*) would prohibit state agencies from contracting with a company boycotting or disinvesting from Israel.

Former Sen. Eric Fingerhut, who is no president and CEO of Hillel International, said the movement to boycott and disinvest “seeks to cut off the interactions, the dialogue, and the business and academic partnerships that lead to peace.”

“As a former member of this General Assembly, nothing would make me prouder than to see Ohio join the growing list of states that is rejecting this movement and standing for dialogue and collaboration, which is in turn the only hope for peace for all peoples,” he said.
Ohio exported more than $223 million worth of goods to Israel in 2015, according to Hany Baransi, owner the Nazareth Restaurant in Columbus.

“The (boycott, disinvest and sanction) hate campaign wants to block Israeli companies from conducting business in the US, prevent Israeli academics from cooperating with American universities, and stop Israeli artists from performing at American venues. Any and every Israeli, whether Jewish or Arab, is a target for the boycott,” he said.

Kenneth L. Marcus, president and general counsel of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told the committee that the BDS movement is anti-Semitic.

“There are many reasons to oppose BDS, but none is more serious than the core bigotry of this movement,” he said. “The pre-Nazi, Nazi, Arab League and BDS boycotts all share common elements: they seek to deny Jewish legitimacy or normalcy as a punishment for supposed Jewish transgressions. The BDS campaign, like its Nazi predecessor, rationalized and justified sporadic efforts that had preceded it.”

Pranav Jani, an associate professor of English at Ohio State University, told members of the House Government Accountability & Oversight committee that the bill is “opposed to the spirit of free speech and democracy.”

Mr. Jani went on to criticize a letter Rep. Tim Brown (R-Bowling Green) sent to members of OSU’s Undergraduate Student Government, in which he wrote that passage of a resolution supporting the disinvestment movement would be in opposition to the state’s commitment to “the Jewish State.”

“Think about how strange and chilling it is for an elected official to use the power of his governmental office to write to 19, 20, 21-year-old students on the issue of an undergraduate resolution that has little more than symbolic value – since any actual disinvestment would have to be approved by the board of trustees,” he said.

In response to his testimony, Rep. Jim Butler (R-Oakwood) took issue with Mr. Jani implying Rep. Brown misused his position in sending the letter.

Mr. Jani said he was not implying such a thing, he was stating it, which drew applause from the bill’s opponents in the crowd.

Douglas Kerr told members of the committee that the legislation is actually anti-Israel because it supports the continued occupation of Palestinian territories.

“The primary goal of all various forms of Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions is to end the Israeli occupation. BDS is a non-violent movement initiated and supported by most segments of Palestinian society, including the Christian Kairos Response, and is a call for international support to put pressure on Israeli government to change its policies,” he told the committee. “It is not anti-Semitic or anti- any religious or ethnic group. It is even supported in part by some Israelis.”

Mark Silverberg, who sits on the board of directors of Americans for Peace Now, accused supporters of the bill of using the measure to obscurely support Israeli settlements in occupied territories.

“These settlements are a major point of debate and contention within the American Jewish community,” he said. “Attempts to paper over these debates with obfuscatory legislation do a grave injustice to the breadth of opinions, and deep concern and division, within the American Jewish community on these issues.”

Pamela Beck of the United Church of Christ Palestine/Israel Network told the committee that boycotts and disinvestment movements are non-violent tools to remedy injustices.

“Boycott and divestment are an effective non-violent approach to bring attention and action to remediate inequities and install a just peace rather than human rights abuses and violence,” she said. “Why would you block any peaceful recourse for Palestinians struggling for their rights and freedom? If the state of Ohio blocks peaceful recourse and the status quo remains, then the state of Ohio may be considered complicit in the human rights abuses.”

Original Article