Did you know that you do not have the right to boycott foreign powers? To engage in such activities you must have permission from the government. It is the
government's decision, not yours. If you choose to boycott, or even advocate a boycott, against a foreign entity that the government has not come to a similar opinion of, you face hefty fees and possibly ten years in prison.
Why would the government do such a thing? Surely it violates our sacred right to free speech?
Well back in 1977 the Arab League was engaged in a poorly managed and now almost defunct boycott of all Isreali products.
Worried that the United States might engage in a similar boycott Abraham Alexander Ribicoff (at the time D-CT), firebrand supporter of Israel, tacked this rider on to a mostly innocuous piece of tax legislation, the Tax Reform Act.
You see,
your freedom is less important then
Israel's security. What makes the whole thing work is that the legislation is almost never enforced in any instance outside of anti-Isreali boycotts (it theoretically gives the power to punish any non-government sanctioned boycott). Since we all love Israel here (right? RIGHT?!) there's hardly any movement against it. As it is, it's totally obscure and more then thirty years old.
Read for yourself:
Economic and political boycotts of Israel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
or my particulary favorite source:
Antiboycott Regulations
where it provides you with instructions on what to do if you see any enemies of Israeli daring to speak their (American) minds through their (American) wallets.
Disgusting.
Linear Mode
Main
Extras
