Americans can advocate boycotts, but they cannot legally practice them, according to law expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV, rebuking Rep. Ilhan Omar's, D-Minn., proposed resolution to support BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions).
"Remember, in our country, you can advocate boycotts, but you can't practice them," Dershowitz told Thursday's "Newsmax Now." "You can't boycott on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, and you can't boycott on the basis of national origin.
"So, it's illegal to boycott Israel, Israelis, Jews; it's illegal to boycott blacks and Muslims, but it's perfectly legal to advocate that."
Dershowitz says the BDS movement Rep. Omar supports is intended to diminish the state of Israel and he warns her resolution has a single-sided motivation – one that ultimately might be turned around to oppress black and Muslim Americans.
"You have to understand this resolution would also permit white supremacists and the Klu Klux Klan to boycott black businesses or to boycott Muslim businesses," Dershowitz told host John Bachman. "It is a general statement in favor of boycotting, and you know you can't distinguish between BDS – which is directed against Israel and the nation state of the Jewish people – and the same which would be directed against black people or against Muslim people."
Dershowitz calls this the "the shoe on the other foot test," and her resolution fails to pass it, so lawmakers should also fail to pass the bill.
"I would like to ask Omar and I'd like to ask [Dem Ga. Rep.] John Lewis, who supports this: Would you support this resolution if you believe that it authorized the Klu Klux Klan to boycott black businesses or white supremacists to boycott renting houses to black people?" he asked.
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