43 Senators Sign on to Bill to Outlaw Support for Israel Boycotts

[TDAS04]

As someone who has admired Israel, and has considered the country the best respecter of human rights in the Mideast (for its own citizens anyway; the Palestinians deserve better), I'm nonetheless thinking--wtf?  The US should not be obliged to support the Israeli government blindly, nor should it be required that the US value the life of a single Israeli over multiple Palestinian lives.  

Antisemitism is real and ugly, and has been for millennia; I admire the Jews for their survival in the face of genocide and extermination attempts, and I support Israel's right to exist (alongside an independent Palestine).  I also admire the thriving society that Jews have built in Israel.  At the same time, labeling criticism of the Israeli government's heavy-handed policies towards the Palestinians (keeping them a stateless people, continued aggressive settlement building in the West Bank, indifference toward Palestinian civilian lives, etc.)  as "antisemitism" does a disservice to the fight against actual antisemitism.  In fact, the Christian fundamentalists--who today advocate the policy of blind support for Israel for Biblical literalist reasons--may claim to be the best friends of the Jews, but not long ago, they waged vicious antisemitic campaigns, and referred to Jews as "Christ-killers".

Obviously this bill is dangerous, and it seems quite unconstitutional.