State Department bans funds for groups it says are anti-Semitic

The Hill ^ | 11/19/20 | LAURA KELLY

[SJackson]

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday announced that the State Department will ban funding for any organization it determines participates in the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) 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 Netanyahu while on travel in Jerusalem and said the State Department would work quickly to identify and label organizations it views are anti-Semitic.

“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 U.S. 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 that, among their activities, focus on how Israeli settlements in the West Bank contribute to human rights abuses against Palestinians and that have come under penalty from the Israeli government for their work in the Jewish state.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

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Should there be a Biden presidency, something else "por-Israel" Joe will have to undo. In the name of tough love.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday announced that the State Department will ban funding for any organization it determines participates in the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, labeling such activity as anti-Semitic.

Good move, but the BDS movement (created and led by the Palestinians) has been around for a couple of decades now. Would have been a lot better to announce this ban on Day One of the Trump administration instead of toward the end of his first term. If Biden takes office in January, his SoS will immediately reverse this.

[17th Miss Regt]

If Biden takes office in January, his SoS will immediately reverse this.

Yep. His SoS designee can't wait to tell the Israelis, "We're going to put the clamps back on you, you hook-nosed bastards."