I Live in Arkansas. Why Is My State Telling Me Not to Boycott Israel?

I grew up in Arkansas. I love the Arkansas Times and have fond memories reading it in coffee shops as a teenager and college student. Advertisers advertise with whomever they wish, but I'm having a hard time understanding how laws that mandate a political position - any political position - aren't clear violations of the first amendment.

The headline could be clearer. This is about a newspaper being told by a state sponsored advertiser that they must "pledge" not to boycott Israel. It's much more specific than the current headline, which is confusing. Specifically "telling" - like an ad campaign or something is not an infringement of rights vs. "compelling" - which is my read of what is happening in the article.

If you do ITAR work, there are also federal-level reporting regulations regarding boycotting Israel.

Why?

In short, lawmakers are creating numerous anti-BDS laws attempting to defend freedom;-) as long they align with their own ideological positions.

I was actually asked whether "Israel had a right to exist" during an interview. I was astonished. I answered that no country has a "right to exist" and that individuals have a right to self-determination (among other human rights). I still got the job.

Ironically, the heavy-handed attempts to censor and suppress BDS is what ultimately led me to support them.

The author of the opinion piece (Alan Leveritt) is the subject (among others) of a good documentary BOYCOTT by Julia Bacha (not clear how to watch this). Panel discussion and Q&A for the doc is on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26HFbKoA7SU

Honestly, the obsession with these types of tropes are getting old. The world goes on, exemplary individuals shine and legislation gets passed, where are the narratives going to be when even questioning something so blatanly apparent is even a question worth asking?

Because fox news viewers have been duped into liking israel.

While probably not related, this is weirdly similar to Executive Order 14042, which was the one produced by the current administration to mandate covid vaccinations among federal contractors and subcontractors. It's even down to the point where both seem to regulate not doing something.

The neocons, who have ties to the Israel lobby, have been running the Republican party for some time, so this is not surprising.

@ Dang can we flag this ?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity.