cheka.
13th October 2016, 08:41 AM
http://mynewsla.com/government/2016/09/28/is-the-city-of-la-punishing-companies-that-boycott-israel/
Council members waded into the contentious territory in June by signing off on a resolution supporting an earlier version of a state bill, AB 2844, that would have prohibited public agencies in California from giving contracts of $10,000 or more to businesses that boycott Israel.
National Lawyers Guild Executive Director Ameena Mirza Qazi said the council approved the resolution “without batting an eye,” despite the message it sends to activists who are critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
In a letter sent this week to Council President Herb Wesson and other members of the City Council, Qazi and other attorneys accuse the city’s approval of the resolution as siding with the “Israeli lobby,” which “appears to have no problem in convincing our City Council to blindly support resolutions that eviscerates the First Amendment protections of Los Angeles residents.”
The attorneys allege the bill that the city went on record to support was an attempt to quash political protest against Israel, and while the city has no actual power over such issue, the move would create a “chilling effect” on free speech.
In their letter, the attorneys call on the council to withdraw its support for the resolution, and to “further acknowledge that political boycotts are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
Council members waded into the contentious territory in June by signing off on a resolution supporting an earlier version of a state bill, AB 2844, that would have prohibited public agencies in California from giving contracts of $10,000 or more to businesses that boycott Israel.
National Lawyers Guild Executive Director Ameena Mirza Qazi said the council approved the resolution “without batting an eye,” despite the message it sends to activists who are critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
In a letter sent this week to Council President Herb Wesson and other members of the City Council, Qazi and other attorneys accuse the city’s approval of the resolution as siding with the “Israeli lobby,” which “appears to have no problem in convincing our City Council to blindly support resolutions that eviscerates the First Amendment protections of Los Angeles residents.”
The attorneys allege the bill that the city went on record to support was an attempt to quash political protest against Israel, and while the city has no actual power over such issue, the move would create a “chilling effect” on free speech.
In their letter, the attorneys call on the council to withdraw its support for the resolution, and to “further acknowledge that political boycotts are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”