Jerusalem // A new Israeli law banning entry to foreigners who support boycotting the country came under fire on Tuesday from human rights groups and the opposition, who called it “thought control” harmful to Israel’s international standing.
The approval of the law late on Monday was defended by government ministers and supporters as a necessary response to the movement that calls for Israel to be boycotted over its 50-year occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Israel sees the boycott movement as a strategic threat – a claim activists deny, saying they only want to see the occupation end.
The law follows other recent measures seen as targeting left-wing NGOs, and human rights groups said it could affect their work.
Israel has been faced with boycott calls for decades, but the movement known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) has raised its profile in recent years with help from famous backers such as Roger Waters.
In response, Israeli politicians have become more combative under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current coalition government, seen as the most right-wing in the country’s history.
Last year, Israel budgeted 118 million shekels (Dh118m) to fight the movement.
The bill, which passed by a vote of 46 to 28, means visas and residence permits will not be given to those who have “knowingly issued a public call to boycott the state of Israel or pledged to take part in such a boycott,” a parliament statement said.
It applies to those who are not Israeli citizens or permanent residents, and includes those who are members of organisations calling for a boycott, it said.
“We think that border control should not be used as thought control,” said Hagai El-Ad, executive director of prominent Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
He noted that Israel also controls who enters the Palestinian territories, apart from through one border crossing into Gaza from Egypt, and said the law could “absolutely” affect his group’s work.
The law defines boycott as “deliberately avoiding economic, cultural or academic ties with another person or body solely because of their affinity with the state of Israel, one of its institutions or an area under its control, in such a way that may cause economic, cultural or academic damage.”
The reference to “an area under its control” means the law also applies to activists’ calls to shun dealings with Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
Public security minister Gilad Erdan defended the law on Tuesday, saying “every country has the right to determine who enters its borders.”
But Jewish Voice for Peace, a US human rights group supporting BDS, went as far as to compare the law to US President Donald Trump’s revised ban on refugees and travellers from six Muslim-majority nations.
“Israel just passed its own discriminatory travel ban barring supporters of nonviolent tactics to end Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights,” its executive director Rebecca Vilkomerson said in a statement.
“My grandparents are buried in Israel, my husband and kids are citizens, and I lived there for three years, but this bill would bar me from visiting because of my work in support of Palestinian rights.”
Anti-settlement NGO Peace Now called the law “neither Jewish nor democratic.”
It said it “will not prevent the boycott but just erode Israel’s standing in the world and lead us toward international isolation.”
Those who supported the bill however said it was simply a matter of self-defence, saying Israel should not open its doors to those they allege want to harm the country.
“If someone demeans me, I do not let them into my home,” said David Amsalem, a knesset member from Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party, according to the Jerusalem Post.
*Agence France-Presse
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now