Israel identified on Sunday 20 activist groups from around the world whose members will be banned from entering the country over their calls to boycott the Jewish state, stepping up its fight against a movement it views as a serious threat.
Last year the country enacted a law that would ban any activist who “knowingly issues a public call for boycotting Israel.” Sunday's list, which includes a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation, follows up on that legislation.
A statement by the strategic affairs ministry said those who have carried out “significant, ongoing and consistent harm to Israel through advocating boycotts may be considered to have their entry barred.” It said “central figures in key boycott organisations” risked being prevented entry. The 2017 law does not apply to Israeli citizens, the statement said.
“The boycott organisations must know that the state of Israel will act against them,” strategic affairs minister Gilad Erdan said in a statement. “The creation of this list is another step in our struggle against the incitement and lies of the boycott organisations.”
The list is part of Israel's efforts against a movement known as BDS, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians. The movement has urged businesses, artists and universities to sever ties with Israel and it includes thousands of volunteers around the world.
Supporters of the movement say the tactics are a nonviolent way to promote the Palestinian cause. Israel says the campaign goes beyond fighting its occupation of territory that Palestinians claim as their land and often masks a more far-reaching aim to delegitimise or destroy the Jewish state.
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.
Hassan Jabareen, of the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, told The Guardian that the ban was draconian and arbitrary. "This ban is an overt violation of the constitutional rights of Israeli citizens and the rights guaranteed to Palestinian residents of the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories] under international humanitarian and human rights law." He added that the move was "reminiscent of South Africa's apartheid regime which also prepared blacklists in order to punish people and prevent the entry of those opposed to its racist policies."
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker group on the list, said it would continue to work for “peace and justice.” The group, together with a British Quaker organisation, 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 AFSC official responsible for international programs.
The US-based Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) was also blacklisted.
“Israel's decision to specifically ban JVP is disconcerting but not surprising, given the further erosion of democratic norms and rising anxiety about the power of BDS as a tool to demand freedom,” JVP wrote on Facebook in response to the decision.
In the years since its formation, the BDS movement has persuaded several church organisations to divest themselves of Israel-related investments and has garnered support on US college campuses. Most recently, pop singer Lorde joined a number of other performers who have cancelled performances in Israel amid pressure from BDS activists.
