People can be charged with 1 Million Dollars and upto 20 years in Prison for speaking up against Israel.

manama

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The Cardin legislation would “bar U.S. persons from supporting boycotts against Israel, including its settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories conducted by international governmental organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union. It would also... include penalties for simply requesting information about such boycotts. Violations would be subject to a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison....This bill would impose civil and criminal punishment on individuals solely because of their political beliefs about Israel and its policies.”


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-join-republicans-in-bill-criminalizing-speech_us_5978bc17e4b0c6616f7ce6d9
 

Thunderian

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It should be noted that the OP is not an article, but an opinion piece based on ACLU claims that are, as this piece says, "as weak as they are dramatic."

Laws prohibiting participation in boycotts of Israel have been in place in the US since the 1970's and are not changing. The Cardin bill expands the boycotts covered by the law to include boycotts organized by the UN.

The existing law has been challenged on First Amendment grounds and found not to infringe on anyone's right to free speech. No one has ever been prosecuted for criticism of Israel.
 

Mr.Grieves

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Did a bit of research, as this blew my mind. Alas, this is, in fact, for real. Just researched the bills themselves.
Thunderian is right in that there has been penalties for boycotting American allies- namely Israel- in effect for some time. These were put into law in 1979, a bill called the Export Administration Act of 1979. Reading through the bill however, one sees this, my emphasis added:
------

(c) CIVIL PENALTIES; ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS.—(1) The head of
any department or agency exercising any functions under this Act, or
any officer or employee of such department or agency specifically
designated by the head thereof, may impose a civil penalty not to
exceed $10,000 for each violation of this Act or any regulation, order,
or license issued under this Act, either in addition to or in lieu of any
other liability or penalty which may be imposed.

------

So at that time 10k was the max you'd be charged for the specific offense so far as I can see, and that could be in addition to other fees, such as if the state is awarded costs, or you've committed other crimes, etc.
The new bill, The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, proposes extensive amendments- as in changes- to the existing bill, including, my emphasis added:

------
(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(j) Violations of section 8(a).—Whoever knowingly violates or conspires to or attempts to violate any provision of section 8(a) or any regulation, order, or license issued thereunder shall be fined in accordance with section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705).”.
------


The inclusion of 'or conspires to' makes any 'boycott Israel!' facebook groups you might have going rather dangerous, so take note of that, folks. If you go to that act, you will indeed find this there:

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(b) Civil penalty
A civil penalty may be imposed on any person who commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) in an amount not to exceed the greater of-
(1) $250,000; or
(2) an amount that is twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis of the violation with respect to which the penalty is imposed.
(c) Criminal penalty
A person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of, an unlawful act described in subsection (a) shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.
--------

Which does indeed confirm the possible gravity of the fines involved. A small balm to this madness however is that the $250k fine is a maximum civil penalty, not a minimum one, so it would be at a judge's discretion. Cross your fingers!
 
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Thunderian

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But if you provide evidence, say through photographs and personal testimony, that you're actively engaged in boycotting Israel as an individual participating in a group who does the same, that would qualify as admissable in a court of law, would it not?
The law is not for that and has never been used for that, and any attempt at using it for suppressing free speech would fail on constitutional grounds. It's a commercial law.

This is one issue that is regularly and quite mistakenly used as proof that you can go to jail for saying mean things about Israel. This is a gross misunderstanding of the federal anti-boycott laws that were passed in the 1970's as a countermeasure against the Arab boycotts of Israel. Using these laws to prosecute an individual just for hating Israel would be like giving someone a speeding ticket for saying they hated the colour of traffic signs. It's an impossible scenario.
 

Mr.Grieves

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The law is not for that and has never been used for that, and any attempt at using it for suppressing free speech would fail on constitutional grounds. It's a commercial law.

This is one issue that is regularly and quite mistakenly used as proof that you can go to jail for saying mean things about Israel. This is a gross misunderstanding of the federal anti-boycott laws that were passed in the 1970's as a countermeasure against the Arab boycotts of Israel. Using these laws to prosecute an individual just for hating Israel would be like giving someone a speeding ticket for saying they hated the colour of traffic signs. It's an impossible scenario.
No no, I'm not suggesting people would go to jail for joining a facebook group. I'm suggesting that someone actively participating in an Israel boycott as an American, under this law which penalizes such a boycott to an extreme, would be building a mighty case against themselves if they shared their actions on a 'Boycott Israel!' Facebook group. While I've no real interest in boycotting Israel myself, I find the notion of penalizing people so severely for making political choices with their money repugnant in the extreme, so I'm advising those who do actively boycott Israel not to advertise their behavior online.
 

Thunderian

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My question was if this ridiculous bill was a reality. I don't see how you could have misinterpreted it in this way. Seems like a considerable shift of goal-posts.
Huh?

People can be charged with 1 Million Dollars and upto 20 years in Prison for speaking up against Israel
lol, is this for real..?
How have I moved the goalposts? Unless I read that law wrong, you cannot be charged a million bucks and sent to prison for 20 years just for speaking up against Israel. The title of the thread is false, and the answer to the question "lol, is this for real..?" is still "no".

The bill is a reality, but the only thing ridiculous is what you're saying it will do.
 

Mr.Grieves

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How have I moved the goalposts? Unless I read that law wrong, you cannot be charged a million bucks and sent to prison for 20 years just for speaking up against Israel. The title of the thread is false, and the answer to the question "lol, is this for real..?" is still "no".
You can be charged a million bucks and be sent to prison for 20 years for choosing not to buy Israeli goods/products/services and having your business do the same, based on your political opinions.
And if you remember, political spending IS free speech in America.
As decided by the Supreme Court?
"If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech."
That's a quote from Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which it was determined that political spending qualifies as free speech. Apparently that doesn't apply to a political refusal to spend...?
Somehow that figures.
 

Thunderian

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What have I said it will do, other than what it says it will do?
There are people who are happy to give the impression this bill criminalizes mere dissent, and if you're not doing that, you veer pretty close to it.
 

rainerann

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The ACLU comments really help bring clarity to this change.

"The ACLU originally stated our opposition to S. 720 in a letter to the full Senate dated July 17, 2017. As discussed in that letter, S. 720 would amend the Export Administration Act (EAA), a federal law that prohibits U.S. persons from complying with boycotts fostered or imposed by foreign governments. That law was passed in response to Arab League policies requiring U.S. companies to boycott Israel as a condition of doing business in Arab League states. S. 720 would apply EAA’s restrictions to calls for boycott by international governmental organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union.

At first glance, these alterations may seem relatively minor. In fact, S.720 would turn the EAA on its head. Whereas the EAA was meant to protect American companies from economic coercion by foreign governments, S.720 would punish Americans who participate in constitutionally protected political boycotts." https://www.aclu.org/letter/aclu-letter-revised-version-s720-israel-anti-boycott-act

So, whereas the original act was intended as a protection from coercion, this amendment coerces parties to not engage in business with parties involved in BDS. I think that is a good point about how freedoms are continuing to be constrained to serve in the interest of whatever Israel wants.
 

Mr.Grieves

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The bill is a reality, but the only thing ridiculous is what you're saying it will do.
What have I said it will do, other than what it says it will do?
There are people who are happy to give the impression this bill criminalizes mere dissent, and if you're not doing that, you veer pretty close to it.
So, as you can't point out any inference I've made about the legislation not supported by or directly stated within the legislation, simply reading and quoting the bills and acts involved and providing links for anyone to review is ridiculous, and veering close to giving the impression this bill criminalizes mere dissent?

Anyway, a boycott is a form of peaceful protest, which to my mind is an entirely valid way of expressing ones political opinion, and has no business being criminalized, let alone penalized to ludicrous severity.
 
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No, I didn't. The law cannot be used to punish people for hating Israel. That's a fact.
I know it can in Germany.
I don’t recall the name of the law but if someone is a “Holocaust Revisionist” or even questions the “6 million Jews” propaganda, they can be jailed.
 
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