Democrats Call to Sanction Pro-Settler Watchdog Group
Barak Ravid reported on Walla! that a group of 15 US Senators and 68 members of the House of Representatives – all from the Democratic Party – sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. In addition, they called for the imposition of sanctions on the Regavim Movement, , which monitors the activities of the Palestinian Authority and foreign organizations in Area C, because Regavim’s “incitement” has resulted in violence. They claim that Regavim’s activities seek to “prevent Palestinian construction in the West Bank” – “actions that resulted in the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes.”
Regavim responded: “The sanctions imposed by the Biden Administration on civil society organizations, based solely on their political orientation, is equivalent to the banning of free speech. This is the definition of dictatorship. The outgoing administration has imposed sanctions on a host of Israeli individuals and organizations at the forefront of the settlement enterprise, as well as grassroots protest movements whose only “sin” is their opposition to current US policy.”
“The Regavim movement is very proud to lead the discourse that recognizes the Jewish People’s right to the Land of Israel. We are proud of our 18 years of legal action to promote equal law enforcement, whether or not any particular government or administration agrees or disagrees, whether ally or adversary. The use of the sanctions regime, usually reserved for last-ditch action against drug lords, internationally sanctioned criminals, terrorists, and dictators, against ordinary citizens of an allied democracy is unprecedented. It is an outright attack against freedom of speech and dissent and a disgrace to the Biden Administration.”
Regavim pointed out the precise timing the signatories chose: “The lame ducks in Congress are using their final moments of power to amplify and expand the most anti-democratic maneuver of the Biden Administration. As a result of the sanctions imposed under Executive Order 14115, President Biden will be judged by history for the bald-faced attempt to prevent public debate, to silence political opponents, to deny freedom of speech, and to make reasoned debate impossible. Now, members of Congress seek to take this outrage to even more profound depths while marketing it to promote “stability in the Middle East.”
The American public understood full well that these same members of Congress were not worthy of their support or trust. They saw through the virtue signaling, recognized the Democrats as a threat to democracy, and sent them a clear message from the ballot box.”
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