Illinois is one of our favorite states, that we
have already seen. And now, just to keep on the good terms, Republican representative in Illinois, Peter Roskam, has
published a commentary on the Wall Street Journal encouraging Congress to take action against those annoying BSemites. We'll just let you enjoy his words yourselves:
The U.S. cannot allow its firms to be pressured to leave Israel or risk their commercial operations in Europe. This threatens not only our ally Israel, but the health of our own economy.
The good news is we now have a chance to fight back against this harmful campaign. Congress is currently debating bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation, which stipulates key American objectives in free-trade negotiations with the EU. Included in these priorities is language I co-authored with Rep. Juan Vargas (D., Calif.), Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) instructing U.S. negotiators to discourage our prospective European trade partners from participating in boycott, divestment and sanctions.
If these countries want free trade with the U.S., they can’t engage in politically motivated boycotts against Israel. These same principles were successfully negotiated into U.S. free-trade agreements with Bahrain and Oman in the mid-2000s, prompting both countries to end their boycotts of Israel.
Members of Congress from both parties agree that preserving Israel’s economic stability is a strategic imperative for the U.S. We must learn from the lessons of the past and take threats to Israel seriously. We must not be fooled by those marketing BDS as anything but blatant discrimination against the Jewish state. And we must seize the historic opportunity to push back forcefully against the BDS movement to ensure the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Go Roskam! Go Illinois!
