Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoOvernight Defense: Formal negotiations inch forward on defense bill with Confederate base name language | Senators look to block B UAE arms sales | Trump administration imposes Iran sanctions over human rights abuses Republican senators urge Trump to label West Bank goods as ‘Made in Israel’ Trump sanctions Iranian officials, organizations for human rights abuses on anniversary of deadly crackdown on protests MORE on Thursday announced that the State Department will ban funding any organization it determines participates in the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, labeling such activity as anti-Semitic.
The announcement was expected for several weeks and had earlier drawn pushback from civil and human rights groups that warned the effort politicized the fight against anti-Semitism and could delegitimize the work human rights organizations conduct around the world.
The secretary made the announcement alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE while on travel in Jerusalem and said the State Department would work quickly to identify and label organizations it views are anti-Semitic.
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“I know this sounds simple to you, Mr. Prime Minister, it seems — it seems like a statement of fact, but I want you to know that we will immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct, and withdraw US government support for such groups,” Pompeo said.
“It doesn’t sound simple — it sounds simply wonderful to me,” Netanyahu followed.
Pompeo also reportedly visited the Israeli settlement of Psagot in the West Bank, the first visit to a settlement by a Secretary of State, in a show of support for the U.S. policy that views Israeli settlements as not inconsistent with international law.
The policy is expected to target human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch who, among their activities, focus on how Israeli settlements in the West Bank contribute to human rights abuses against Palestinians and have come under penalty from the Israeli government for their work in the Jewish State.
Netanyahu and pro-Israel groups have long argued that the Global BDS movement is an organized effort to delegitimize the State of Israel collectively. They further argue the boycott movement undermines efforts for a two-state solution by calling for international pressure to isolate Israel without concessions from the Palestinians.
Israel passed a law in 2017 that bars entry to any foreigner that supports or takes part in an economic boycott of Israel related to the BDS movement and a researcher for Human Rights Watch was deported from Israel last year for statements purported to support the BDS movement.
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House lawmakers in July 2019 passed a resolution opposing the BDS movement but did not call it anti-Semitic and efforts to legislate against participating in the BDS movement are stalled over concerns of First Amendment rights.
At least 27 states have legislation against the BDS movement, according to Human Rights Watch, broadly blocking the state from engaging with individuals or entities that engage in the BDS movement.
Yet supporters say the right to boycott, in particular in the U.S., is protected under the first amendment and is part of efforts to reject Israeli settlements in the West Bank that much of the international community considers as illegally occupied.
Pompeo on Wednesday reinforced the view by the Trump administration that Israeli settlements are not illegal, updating State Department guidelines to label goods as “made in Israel” for those produced in Israeli settlements in Area C of the West Bank — under Israeli civil and military control as part of the Oslo Accords — and exported to the U.S.
Israel disputes this characterization of settlements and Pompeo reversed in November 2019 a State Department legal opinion that viewed the settlements as illegal.
The move to identify and label organizations as anti-Semitic was first reported by Politico last month, saying the effort was largely based on research from the organization NGO Monitor, an Israel-based research institute that investigates non-profit ties they view as compromising and influencing the purported mission of the organizations.
In a statement Thursday, NGO Monitor welcomed the State Department’s new directive, saying the equating of BDS with anti-Semitism echoes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, which defines attempts to deny “the Jewish people their right to self-determination” and apply “double standards” as anti-Semitic.
“Combating antisemitism and ending the exploitation of universal human rights are both issues of great importance, and the need to address these objectives should transcend political divisions,” the organization said in its statement. “In this context, NGO Monitor has called for governments, as well as NGOs, to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.”
In annual reports, NGO Monitor frequently takes issue with the work in Israel by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two organizations believed to be targeted by the State Department’s announcement.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say they don’t receive any funding from the State Department but warn that being labeled anti-Semitic would give permission to other governments that abuse human rights to dismiss their work and reports.
“The administration is spreading misinformation and working to undermine those who are working to protect human rights,” Bob Goodfellow, the Interim Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement last month responding to reporting by Politico.
“We know that the governments of many countries, including the United States’, would rather not have their human rights violations exposed,” the statement continued.
“Any process aimed at a just and sustainable peace in Israel and the State of Palestine must include an end to systematic human rights abuses, dismantling of illegal Israeli settlements, and justice and reparation for victims of crimes under international law. This is what international norms demand, whether Secretary Pompeo likes it or not.”
The Anti-Defamation League also reacted last month to the expected State Department announcement, opposing broadly applying the anti-Semitism label to human rights organizations. While it did not name Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch directly, the ADL said it did not always agree with certain groups in their approach to Israel, calling their work “excessive and unfair.”
“Nonetheless, we strongly believe that these organizations are crucial to ensuring robust civil society and democratic protections worldwide. To suggest that these groups are somehow constitutionally anti-Jewish is plain wrong. It would be shortsighted and counterproductive for the State Department to blacklist them in this way,” the statement read.