Boycotting the truth

The Knesset passed the second and third readings of a private member’s bill banning entry and residence visas to non-Israelis who call for an economic, cultural or academic boycott of Israel, or of “an area under its control,” that is, the settlements. The law is part of the rightist-nationalist government trend of turning Israel into a bastion against anyone who chooses to oppose the current Israeli policy by using a legitimate tool of nonviolent protest in a democratic society — boycott. Thus the Netanyahu coalition continues to intentionally blur the 1967 boundaries, playing into the hands of those who seek to destroy sovereign Israel.