Marilyn Katz and James Klutznick: Illinois’ ‘anti-boycott’ law hinders protest of Palestinians’ oppression
By Marilyn Katz and James Klutznick
Chicago Tribune
Jun 28, 2023 at 5:00 am
In the early morning hours one day last week, we and many others received an urgent plea for help from a friend in Palestine whose family home was under vicious attack by men with guns and incendiary weapons.
What surprised us was not the cry for help. The last six months have seen a steady increase in violence against Palestinian villages, and Palestinian and Israeli friends alike have shared the news. The surprise was that the request came from a member of the Illinois General Assembly. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid was visiting his parents at their family home in Turmus Ayya — an idyllic West Bank village that is home to many families whose younger members are U.S. citizens, including some Illinoisans.
The Rashids’ home, like dozens of others in Turmus Ayya and neighboring villages, was under attack by Israeli “settlers” — a term Israel uses to describe Israelis who, with government funding and in violation of international law, have been given land and resources to build communities in the West Bank. Israel occupies more than 60% of the territory and has had settlements there since 1967.
The excuse for the settler attack that left dozens of homes and cars burned was the killing of four settlers by two Palestinian gunmen on Tuesday, which was, in turn, likely retaliation for the Palestinians killed the previous day during an Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp. However, the vigilante campaign by Israeli settlers has been intensifying all year. In Illinois, an “anti-boycott” law prevents us from taking broad action to protest this violence and oppression.
More than 100 Palestinians have been killed this year, including more than a dozen children, making it one of the deadliest years so far for West Bank Palestinians since 2005, according to the United Nations. Palestinian homes and stores have been ransacked, vehicles trashed, fields ravaged and residents terrorized. Surprisingly, even the Israeli media have called these actions “pogroms,” evoking the Russian, Polish and Ukrainian attacks on Jewish communities that led to the mass exodus from those countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the U.S. and the U.N. have condemned the attacks, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has not only ignored settler violence but also announced that the government supports the creation of more than 4,500 new homes for settlers in the occupied territories. This is, again, in violation of international law and agreements with the U.S. and a mockery of the fact that Palestinians living in more than 60% of the West Bank under Israeli rule cannot obtain residential permits, including to add a room.
Who are the perpetrators of this violence? It is often younger men and women who live in the settlements. The settlements range from a collection of small homes to communities of 30,000 or more. Since 2000, they have flourished, to 150 settlements or “outposts,” with 700,000 Israelis living on Palestinian land, often seized unlawfully in violation of international law and protest.
In a statement on Monday, U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said “the Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law.” According to Haq, the secretary-general also said that “the expansion of these illegal settlements is a significant driver of tensions and violence and deepens humanitarian needs.”
The expansion of the settlements “further entrenches Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, encroaches on Palestinian land and natural resources, hampers the free movement of the Palestinian population and undermines the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and sovereignty,” the statement said.
Who are the victims? The 3.2 million West Bank Palestinians forced to live in a fraction of their historic lands, ruled by the Israeli military on the ground and drones in the air, through hundreds of road obstacles and 101 permits that not only impede travel but employment, health care and home care as well. It is a sad irony that while West Bank Palestinians live less than a few miles from the Mediterranean Sea, unless they can obtain the right permits, they can never go there.
While President Joe Biden’s administration has “protested” the actions of what are essentially Israeli terrorists, it is unclear what further concrete steps the Biden administration will take. However, those of us here in Illinois have the opportunity to act to support our legislative leader and take action that is both moral and effective.
We have seen the power of nonviolent state-level actions such as boycotts, including the efforts that brought apartheid to an end in South Africa. In Illinois, we are prohibited from taking such action with respect to Israel.
In 2015, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law making it illegal for the state to do business with any company that refuses to do business in the occupied West Bank. Lawmakers’ target — companies like Ben and Jerry’s, which sells ice cream in Israel but not, for moral reasons, in the occupied lands.
It’s time to recognize the reality of the Middle East and treat the illegal occupation of Palestine with the same integrity with which we stood up against South African apartheid. It’s time to repeal the anti-boycott laws that prohibit us from taking the same moral stance we took toward South Africa that was so effective.
By overturning the ill-conceived “anti-boycott” law now in effect in our state, we can demonstrate our commitment to democracy and equity for all Illinois citizens and their families in the Middle East.
Marilyn Katz is president of MK Communications, a public policy strategy and communications firm. She is on the national board of Americans for Peace Now (APN) and previously was on the national board of J Street. James Klutznick is a Chicago businessman and president of APN’s board.
This op-ed was originally published in the Chicago Tribune.