Iowa legislators must reject political boycotts of Israel

Recently, the Iowa House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation rejecting political boycotts of Israel. Hateful politically driven economic warfare, based on national origin, is not in the best interest of Iowans or Iowa businesses.

SF2281/HF2231 protects Iowa companies that do business over $40,000,000 (most recent data available) in business exports with Israel each year by taking the moral stance that Iowa will not invest with, or contract with, a company should it single out the world's only Jewish state for boycott or other punitive actions based on solely political purposes. We should applaud the House for their leadership on passing this historic bill, and we should expect similar leadership from the Senate. To date this bill has now been passed in Illinois, Indiana, Florida, and South Carolina. It is being considered in dozens of states across the country and we are proud that Iowa continues to be a national leader in this effort.

The BDS movement, which claims to seek peace between Israelis and Palestinians, is not a peace movement at all. Omar Barghouti, a leader of the movement, has been quoted stating the aim is not the two-state solution that we all seek but one Palestinian state in place of Israel and the disputed territories. This means the destruction of the world's only Jewish state. We must call BDS out for what it is, a hateful, genocidal, and anti-Semitic movement.

To be sure, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is long-standing and complex, and many Palestinians are suffering, not least of all from their own radical and corrupt leadership. By the same token, many citizens of other Arab countries, including Syria, are suffering even worse and dying yet no boycott is being proposed against those countries. Indeed, why does BDS not protest the barbarities perpetrated by ISIS. And, for that matter, where is BDS' concern for human rights when Israelis are dying daily due to Palestinian terrorism. Only Israel is BDS' target. This is how we know that BDS is anti-Semitic.

What is needed to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is an end to terrorism against innocent civilians, an end to Hamas' genocidal agenda, free and fair elections for the Palestinians (the last one was more than a decade ago), and diplomacy between the two sides leading to gradual trust-building and a two-state solution. A one-sided, genocidal, discriminatory economic boycott is neither justifiable nor helpful.

Peace is paved with diplomacy and discussion, not isolation. We are proud that Iowa is leading this effort. Let us work to build a better future for the people of the Middle East, Arab and Jew alike, so this will be the last generation to experience the horrors of war.

' David Nadler is an attorney in Cedar Rapids. He is a past president of the Iowa City Jewish Federation and a present member of the Iowa Holocaust Education Council.