US approves more penalties against BDS supporters

US lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill which stipulates that ‘criminal’ penalties for boycotting Israel would be extended to companies complying with the anti-occupation Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The measure is a companion to one introduced in the Senate in September dubbed the “Protecting Israel Against Discrimination Act.”

The House bill amends language in bills passed in the 1970s to combat the Arab League boycott of Israel to encompass the modern Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement – and to include efforts that would boycott goods produced in the occupied West Bank.