A common tactic of the Israel-hating left is pressuring companies, schools, and other organizations to boycott Israel. Claiming that the embattled state is somehow the aggressor in wars against the Arabs, they relentlessly push for a total boycott of it.
Normally, the right simply dismisses such calls with scorn, labels them anti-semitic, and then moves on, doing little to actually push back against the leftists and their absurd claims.
Now, the state of Georgia’s legislature is finally pushing back and setting an example for how to strike back against the left and its corporate minions.
The House of the Georgia General Assembly did so by voting, 146-9, to approve the version of House Bill 383. That bills summary provides this description of it:
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 3 of Chapter 5 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general authority, duties, and procedure relative to state purchasing, so as to prohibit the state from entering into certain contracts with an individual or company unless such contracts contain a certification that such individual or company does not presently conduct a boycott of Israel and will not conduct such a boycott for the duration of such contract; to exclude certain contracts from these requirements; to revise a definition; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
So, if a company (with more than 5 employees) wants to do business (worth at least $100k) with the state of Georgia, now it’s going to have to prove that it doesn’t boycott Israel and won’t do so for the duration of the contract. Numerous other states have similar bills.
After being passed by the Georgia legislature, the bill now needs only to be signed by Governor Brian Kemp to become effective. Given that he’s in a primary race right now and needs to prove his conservative credentials, it’s one that he’ll probably sign.
Such a bill is effective for two reasons. First, it helps show that the right isn’t just going to sit idly by as the left pushes for more and more radical policies.
The left thrives when preying on the weak and struggles to act effectively when facing stiff resistance, so such bills slow down their march through the institutions by creating a real cost to the adoption of leftist policies.
Secondly, such a bill gives covering fire to those companies that don’t want to go along with the left but are run by those without a taste for political conflict, and thus need a defensible reason to not go along with whatever their employees or outside activists are pushing for.
With such a bill as HB 383 in force, such companies can say that they can’t go along with the BDS movement because they rely on revenue from government contracts.
That’s nowhere near as good as companies actually standing up to the left and telling them to back off, but it’s better than them going along with it.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.