Little Rock, Ark (AP)-The Federal Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld Arkansas law requiring state contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel because the restriction is not an unconstitutional violation of free will. speech.
The entire U.S. District Court of Appeals overturned 8th District 2-1 Decision Last year, three court judges were appointed by a panel that found the request unconstitutional. The Arkansas Times complained about a blocking law that requires state contractors to reduce taxes by 20% if they don’t sign a pledge.
“(The law) only prohibits economic decisions that discriminate against Israel,” Judge Jonathan Kobes wrote in a court decision. “Because these commercial decisions are not visible to observers, unless clarified, they are not expressed on the merits and do not include the first amendment.”
The Federal Judge in the 2019 Released Times lawsuit says the boycotts are not protected by the First Amendment. The three -judge panel of the Court of Appeal overturned this decision and the State appealed to the Supreme Court.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the Times, said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We hope and hope that the Supreme Court will rectify the situation and reaffirm the country’s historic commitment to strong protection against political boycotts,” said Brian House, Senior Advocate for the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology project. Foundation.
The new decision did not explain how the judges decided, but at least one agreed, saying the law was written so extensively that it could go beyond a boycott.
“We can imagine a company building anti-Israel cartels, sacrificing targets advocating a boycott of Israel, encouraging others to boycott Israel, or even publicly criticizing an action of‘ limiting ’ in trade relations with Israel ’.”- Judge Jane Kelly wrote in her objection. “And any such behavior risks being within the scope of the ban.”
Დرو ება ‘Dress He said the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College would refuse to sign a contract with the newspaper for advertising if the newspaper did not sign the pledge. The newspaper does not boycott Israel.
“Today is a strong victory for Arkansas’ anti -discrimination law and strengthens Arkansas ’relationship with our longtime ally Israel,” said Republican Attorney General Leslie Routledge, whose office defended the law.
Republican lawmakers in Arkansas who drafted the 2017 This Bill are said not to have caused a specific incident in the state. This was followed by similar restrictions implemented by other states to Promote Boycots, Recreation and Sanctions against Israeli institutions and businesses for the treatment of Palestinians. Israeli officials say the campaign obscures the deeper purpose of delegitimizing and destroying the country.
Similar measures in Arizona, Kansas and Texas, which were blocked, were allowed to take effect after lawmakers restricted demand, so they only applied to larger contracts. Arkansas law applies to contracts worth $ 1,000 or more.
Under anti-boycott law, Arizona last year sold millions of dollars in unilever bonds because of the decision of a Ben and Jerry subsidiary to stop selling ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories.
Source: Huffpost
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