Israel blacklists activist groups

Nation will ban entry visas for people who call for boycott

JERUSALEM — Members of 20 international organizations that promote a boycott campaign against Israel will be banned from entering the country, according to a list published Sunday by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

The list was created after Israel’s parliament in March approved legislation that would deny entry visas to foreign nationals who publicly back or call for any kind of boycott — economic, cultural or academic — of Israel or its West Bank settlements.

The campaign — known collectively as the boycott, divest and sanctions movement — aims to pressure Israel into complying with international law with regard to its policies toward the Palestinians. The movement discourages the purchase of Israeli goods, pressures international companies not to conduct business in Israel and urges celebrities not to visit or perform in the country.

The Israeli government increasingly views the campaign as a threat and has ramped up the fight against what it calls delegitimization efforts.

Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, appointed to spearhead the battle against the campaign and other such movements, said Sunday that the blacklisting was “another step in our work to thwart anti-Israel boycott organizations.”

“The state of Israel will actively prevent such groups from spreading their falsehoods and odious methods from within the country,” he said.

The listed groups, from the United States, France, South Africa and beyond, count thousands of people as members. They were chosen because they are the main ones who “operate consistently and continuously” against Israel, according to Erdan’s office.

Among those featured on the list are six U.S. organizations, including two run by Jewish activists — Jewish Voice for Peace and Code Pink.

American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group on the list, said it would continue to work for “peace and justice.” The group, together with a British Quaker organization, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for assisting World War II refugees.

“We answered the call for divestment from apartheid South Africa and we have done the same with the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions from Palestinians who have faced decades of human rights violations,” said Kerri Kennedy, an American Friends Service Committee official responsible for international programs.

Although details of the ban have yet to be worked out, the ministry said that there was no intention of barring entry to individuals who express political criticism of Israel and that it would not apply to those who hold Israeli citizenship.

Some of the organizations included in the ban responded on social media, with the Jewish Voice for Peace tweeting: “Israel’s decision to specifically ban [Jewish Voice for Peace] is disconcerting but not surprising, given the further erosion of democratic norms and rising anxiety about the power of [the boycott campaign] as a tool to demand freedom.”

Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, said in a statement that the ban was a “badge of honor.”

“When Israel, which aims to portray itself to the world as liberal and democratic, blacklists activists dedicated to nonviolent organizing and dissent, it only further exposes itself as a fraud,” he wrote on the group’s website.

In the years since its formation, the boycott movement has persuaded several church organizations to divest themselves of Israel-related investments and has garnered support on U.S. college campuses. Most recently, pop singer Lorde joined a number of other performers who have canceled performances in Israel amid pressure from activists.

Even so, a slew of other musicians have defied boycott calls and performed. Israel has also enjoyed new economic partnerships and diplomatic ties despite calls for boycotts, and it has become a top destination for international sporting and cultural events.