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" Boycott of cottage cheese is allowed, but not if it settler-made cottage cheese”

Yesterday (Wed. April 15) the Supreme Court in Jerusalem rejected the appeal
against the “Anti Boycott Law” which was lodged by former Knesset Member Uri
Avnery, Gush Shalom and other Israeli peace and human rights groups, and
keeping in force the law enacted several years by the right-wing majority in
the Knesset - criminalizing any call for a boycott of Israel and defining a
boycott of settlement products as also being “a boycott of Israel”.

`This is a deplorable ruling with far-reaching implications” said Adv. Gaby
Lasky, who represented Gush Shalom in this appeal. “The Justices effectively
changed the basic Israeli constitutional law as we had known them, giving the
interest of maintaining settlements in the Occupied Territories a precedence
over the fundamental right of all citizens to Freedom of Political Expression.
In fact, the Supreme Court has been captured by the political precepts of
anti-democratic right wingers, giving its stamp of approval to a piece of
legislation designed to gag one side of the political spectrum. `

Lasky went on to say: `This is a ruling which should have been simple and
straightforward. The court should have come down on the side of the Freedom of
Expression - especially since the Supreme Court itself had previously laid
down clear limits on what are the grounds for infringing that basic freedom. A
clear and present threat to public order or national security, and a
prohibition upon explicit calls for violence or racism – hitherto, these were
the sole grounds which might justify an infringement of Freedom of Expression.
With the new ruling, the court gave in to an oppressive parliamentary
majority, which invented new and unacceptable grounds for striking at the
Freedom of Expression.

`Under the legal situation created in the State of Israel by the Anti Boycott
Law and now ratified by the Supreme Court, it is acceptable to call for a
boycott of cottage cheese due to its high price - but absolutely forbidden to
call for a boycott of the same cheese because it is produced in a settlement`
said Lasky. (The reference is to the “Cottage Cheese Boycott Campaign” which
had touched off the mass Social Protest Movement in 2011 Israel).

Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, which had been the first to lodge the
above appeal, expressed its disappointment with the deplorable ruling, which
keeps in place the ban imposed by the right-wing majority in the Knesset –
making any citizen or group calling for the boycott of settlements and their
products liable to severe penalties. The Supreme Court’s ruling is
particularly disturbing and ominous at this juncture – exactly when the agenda
of Netanyahu’s talks with the extreme-right parties on forming a new governing
coalition includes proposals for new draconian measures, aimed at dealing
devastating blows to the Supreme Court itself as well as to the Freedom of
Expression and Assembly in Israel.

It is unacceptable to have a law which states that “a boycott of an Israeli-
controlled territory” is tantamount to a boycott of Israel itself. There is an
essential difference between the legitimate sovereign territory of Israel and
the territories occupied in 1967 - which are not a part of Israel under
International Law, nor indeed under Israel’s own laws. The building of
settlements in the Occupied Territories is a violation of International Law.
The main purpose for which these settlements are established is to make it
impossible for the Palestinians to ever create their own independent state -
thereby also making it impossible for Israel’s citizens to ever reach peace
with their neighbors.

It is the right of those who oppose the settlements not to consume the
products produced there, not to fund with their money to a settlement project
to which they are strongly opposed. It is the right of activists to make a
loud and clear call for a boycott of settlement products. It is the right of
such organizations as Gush Shalom to compile a detailed list of settlement
products, post it for the broadest public view, spread it at the entrances to
supermarkets and call upon customers not to consume the products appearing on
it. Also at the present moment, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling,
we reiterate and reaffirm our view that this right is valid. In recent years,
Gush Shalom had been forced to conduct activities with the Anti Boycott Law as
a Damocles’ Sword ever hanging overhead. We are sorry to find the Justices
ruling that this sword would continue to hanging over our heads.

It should be noted that, regardless of the whatever any of us does or desires,
the global movement to boycott Israel (BDS) is gathering an increasing
momentum, due to the policy of occupation and oppression enacted by the
government of Israel. Many people around the world - including many Jews –
have come to feel that Israel`s actions in recent years justify the imposition
of a boycott. The only real way for Israel to deal with this boycott campaign
is to change its policy in the Occupied Territories, which pours ever more
fuel on the boycott conflagration.

Most such boycotters are abroad, out of reach of the Israeli law. Punitive
measures against those who are subject to Israeli law would do nothing but
exacerbate the situation.

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