Defeated bill was frightening

Re Bill targeting Israel critics voted down, May 20 As an Israeli-Canadian Jew who loves Israel, it is alarming to see Ontario even consider an anti-democratic and draconian law that would have punished citizens and organizations who speak out against Israeli government policy.

Bill 202, the proposed law, which passed first reading before being defeated, would have gathered names of people and groups who support boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel or Israeli products made in the Occupied Territories. If that is not frightening enough, it would have then sought to bar them from having any business with the Ontario government. It would have placed an official government boycott on human rights activists. The province would have boycotted its own citizens.

Why Kathleen Wynne, a supposed progressive politician, did not condemn this bill right at the gate and into its hour of defeat, is beyond me. The fact that she indicated she may even support the bill makes me question her “liberal” credentials.

To hear politicians attempt to disguise, twist and manipulate the bona fide issue of Palestinian human rights into the language of anti-Semitism is truly sickening. We must slay the falsehood, once and for all, that opposing Israeli government policy is inherently anti-Semitic. Avi Zer-Aviv, Toronto MPPs Tim Hudak and Mike Colle claim that the BDS campaign targets businesses “owned by Jewish Canadians or affiliated with Jewish Canadians.” This is bogus.

The guidelines of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel explicitly “rejects on principle boycotts of individuals based on their identity (such as citizenship, race, gender or religion) or opinion.” Richard Fung, Toronto