CAN YOU MAKE AN INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT ILLEGAL?
- The Land of Israel, a right-wing parliamentary lobby group committed to Jewish settlement of the West Bank seems to think you can…..

The Independent
Friday, 11 June 2010

"What do The Pixies, Elvis Costello, and Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, have in common? A cursory glance might suggest not much yet all have deeply irked Israel.

When Mr Fayyad first embarked on a door-to-door campaign to persuade Palestinians to shun all products made by Jewish settlers, the Israeli public simply shrugged.
But when veteran crooner Costello peered into his conscience and pulled a scheduled appearance in Tel Aviv, Israelis sat up and took notice.

Embattled and increasingly isolated, a group of politicians are now proposing a bill that would outlaw boycotts against the Jewish State, both homegrown and international.

After last week's deadly raid on the flotilla, US rock band The Pixies cancelled their gig. Several other bands have followed suit, prompting Israeli music promoter Shuki Weiss to complain that performers are waging a form of "cultural terrorism".

Human rights activists, meanwhile, decried efforts by politicians to alienate those critical of Israel with new legislation.

"We have wild right-wing politicians presenting wild demagogic bills ... which create a very nasty public atmosphere," said Adam Keller, spokesman for Gush Shalom, an Israeli NGO that has joined calls for a boycott of settler-made goods. "If this is passed into law, it would mean a total breakdown between Israel and the PA."

If I... were a Palestinian, I would certainly join the boycott that is being imposed on the settlements and their products," wrote Yossi Sarid, a commentator in liberal Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. "After all, it would not be human to expect me to buy my tombstone from people who were determined to bury my hopes for a good life and independence." "

However Rod Stewart and Elton John are still scheduled to perform in Israel later this year and meanwhile, authors Margaret Atwood and Amitav Ghosh, the joint recipients of an Israeli literary award, have ignored calls from activists to refuse the prize