{"id":74274,"date":"2016-05-30T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=74274"},"modified":"2016-05-28T15:33:59","modified_gmt":"2016-05-28T14:33:59","slug":"bds-is-free-speech-says-dutch-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/05\/bds-is-free-speech-says-dutch-government\/","title":{"rendered":"BDS Is Free Speech, Says Dutch Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

25 May 2016 – <\/em>The Netherlands has affirmed that activism calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel is a form of free speech.<\/p>\n

In response to parliamentary questions from Green Left MP Rik Grashoff, Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders said<\/a> that \u201cstatements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koenders also said that the Dutch government regularly discusses BDS with Israel and makes clear to Israel that it \u201copposes a boycott of Israel, but that endorsing BDS falls under freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dutch foreign minister\u2019s comments are a serious blow to Israel\u2019s relentless efforts<\/a> to criminalize BDS and silence supporters of Palestinian rights.<\/p>\n

At Israel\u2019s urging<\/a>, governments in the US, UK, France, Canada and elsewhere are introducing anti-democratic legislation<\/a> and taking other repressive measures to undermine the BDS movement.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An activist holds a sign calling for the boycott of Israel during a demonstration marking the 68th year of the Nabka, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in Berlin, Germany, on 15 May.
Anne Paq ActiveStills<\/p><\/div>\n

Israel recently imposed a de facto<\/em> travel ban<\/a> on BDS campaign co-founder and Palestinian human rights defender Omar Barghouti and it seems intent on revoking his residency.<\/p>\n

Israel has also said that it is using its intelligence services to spy<\/a> on BDS activists overseas.<\/p>\n

The Dutch government\u2019s statement also comes as lawmakers in Ontario, Canada\u2019s most populous province, last week rejected a law<\/a> that would have punished BDS activism.<\/p>\n

Civil liberties groups and legislators had warned that the law would have violated fundamental free speech rights.<\/p>\n

Previously, Sweden had been the only European government to recognize that BDS is a civil society movement and that governments should not try to impede it.<\/p>\n

In March, the Swedish foreign ministry told The Electronic Intifada<\/a> that BDS \u201cis a civil society movement\u201d and that \u201cgovernments should not interfere in civil society organization views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uniting to defend BDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a related development, 352 organizations from across 19 countries have published a statement<\/a> urging the European Union to protect BDS as a form of free speech.<\/p>\n

It is the most widely signed statement by European organizations on Palestine in many years.<\/p>\n

The list of signatories<\/a> includes the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions, major Belgian civil society coalition CNCD and French Catholic organization Terre Solidaire.<\/p>\n

Podemos, the leftist Spanish political party that won 21 percent of the popular vote in recent elections, has also backed the statement.<\/p>\n

The groups urge the European Commission, the EU\u2019s governing bureaucracy, to introduce \u201chuman rights guidelines guaranteeing freedom of speech and right to boycott and to use all other means you have in your disposal to support European citizens in their struggle to uphold basic human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also among the signatories are six Irish parties including Sinn F\u00e9in and the Irish Green Party; France\u2019s Left Party, Communist Party and New Anti-Capitalist Party and trade unions including Italy\u2019s Fiom\/CGIL and France\u2019s Union Syndicale Solidaires.<\/p>\n

In addition, more than 30 Belgian organizations including the ABVV\/FGTB trade union federation and major Christian organization Broederlijk Delen have issued their own statement<\/a> urging the Belgian government to resist calls by pro-Israel groups to legislate against BDS.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International<\/a> and Human Rights Watch<\/a> have also made statements in response to the attacks on the BDS movement and its activists.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s dangerous and desperate attacks on the BDS movement appear to be having some unintended consequences: they are prompting European governments and some of the world\u2019s best known organizations to declare their belief that BDS is an entirely legitimate movement.<\/p>\n

UN appeal for #RightToBoycott<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) is inviting<\/a> supporters of free speech and Palestinian rights to co-sign an appeal<\/a> to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra\u2019ad Al Hussein urging him to take action to protect the rights of Palestinian, Israeli and international BDS activists.<\/p>\n

The BNC has also published a comprehensive legal briefing, \u201cBDS: a legitimate human rights movement to be respected and protected by states<\/a>,\u201d that has more useful background and analysis.<\/p>\n

_________________________________<\/p>\n

Michael Deas is a campaigns officer with the<\/em>\u00a0Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, the Palestinian civil society coalition that acts as the Palestinian reference of the movement for<\/em> boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS)<\/a> against Israel until it complies with international law.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 electronicintifada.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 May 2016 – The Netherlands has affirmed that activism calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel is a form of free speech. Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders said that \u201cstatements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}