Abby Martin Sues Georgia Over Israel Loyalty Oath Law

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On Feb. 10, Abby Martin filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a Georgia law requiring all independent contractors to sign a pro-Israel pledge, promising to not participate or advocate the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israeli crimes.

I believe what motived Abby Martin was that she was required to sign a loyalty pledge to speak on a college campus.

I'm glad she is doing this. States should not have the ability to violate free speech. Boycotts are a vital function of free speech as shown in the civil rights era. It's not just happening in Georgia but also other states.
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a reply to: blueman12

Good.

Since when do we sign oaths saying we can't express free speech on other countries.

a reply to: blueman12

It was in response to the new law which requires that colleges who receive Federal monies should not be OK with antisemitism on their campuses, which is a growing problem with the left.

Personally, I think hate speech is part of freedom of speech and anyone should be able to say whatever they want, no matter how abhorrent or vile.

That way you at least know the type of person you are dealing with and can disassociate yourself from them accordingly.

a reply to: blueman12

The United States of Israel

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: blueman12

It was in response to the new law which requires that colleges who receive Federal monies should not be OK with antisemitism on their campuses, which is a growing problem with the left.

Personally, I think hate speech is part of freedom of speech and anyone should be able to say whatever they want, no matter how abhorrent or vile.

That way you at least know the type of person you are dealing with and can disassociate yourself from them accordingly.

How is boycotting Israel anti-Semitism?
Here is a link to the law I believe.

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, including all of its subdivisions and instrumentalities, 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 provide for definitions; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Why should anyone have to sign an pledge to not boycott another country before speaking at a campus? Also, one is not anti-sematic if they boycott Israel.

a reply to: Lumenari

Personally, I think hate speech is part of freedom of speech and anyone should be able to say whatever they want, no matter how abhorrent or vile.

Agreed.

It should be up to the individual to decide if they want to be nice and spare someones feelings or not.
Not the governments.

And we should except the consequences of what we say. Even if it means a punch in the face.

a reply to: blueman12

Do they think that Israel give a damn about who contracts for whom in the US?

This shouldn't be law, but it should be allowable for someone to state that they don't discriminate.

This requirement itself is discriminatory.

I think this is the one issue that everyone on ATS can agree on. No one, left or right or middle, should be required to give up their free speech in regards to another country.

As I have stated before, I have been to Israel, it is a great place, but if I ever wanted to criticize it for any reason, I should be able to do so as an American.

a reply to: Lumenari

I don't Boycott Israel... But I think their foreign policy should be theirs, and not part of mine.

It's not antisemitic... I have nothing against people of the Jewish faith.

I'm critical of Saudi Arabia, home of Mecca. Doesn't mean I think all Muslims are bad.

Hell, I'm critical of my own nation... Yet I love it and wouldn't move if someone paid me. I love it because I can say what I want... And I don't think I've ever advocated for the feds or states to be able to control speech.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: Lumenari

I don't Boycott Israel... But I think their foreign policy should be theirs, and not part of mine.

It's not antisemitic... I have nothing against people of the Jewish faith.

I'm critical of Saudi Arabia, home of Mecca. Doesn't mean I think all Muslims are bad.

Hell, I'm critical of my own nation... Yet I love it and wouldn't move if someone paid me. I love it because I can say what I want... And I don't think I've ever advocated for the feds or states to be able to control speech.

It is strange that the whole "judeo-christian" thing has gained such power with some people. Look guys, Israel is not the 51st state no matter how much you wish that were so. When that does happen - well then this sort of "don't criticize Israel" BS might make sense.

This was a general agreement with you stinker, not a criticism.

a reply to: chr0naut

Yes they do because Israel spends a lot of money on U.S. lobbying. Israel also gets a lot of protection and money from the united states. It's not in their favor for the American population opinion to appear negative.

a reply to: Fools

I don't have to sign a pledge to not criticize my state... So, even if Israel were a state, it still would not make sense.

a reply to: Fools

I think there are probably religious elements, and hell, that doesn't even bother me so long as it doesn't drive policy for all of us... I wouldn't really say that it does though. I think really it's just mutual interest. We have interest in the region, we use them, they use us.

Sadly, I think the religious aspect gets exploited by those abusing their power to gain even more. I'm agnostic and have nothing against religion... But it does make me mad when people exploit someone based off of their beliefs.

Because I don't believe that most leaders who abuse power really believe in God. If they did, they'd know they are damned for what they do.

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: Lumenari

I don't Boycott Israel... But I think their foreign policy should be theirs, and not part of mine.

It's not antisemitic... I have nothing against people of the Jewish faith.

I'm critical of Saudi Arabia, home of Mecca. Doesn't mean I think all Muslims are bad.

Hell, I'm critical of my own nation... Yet I love it and wouldn't move if someone paid me. I love it because I can say what I want... And I don't think I've ever advocated for the feds or states to be able to control speech.

Oh, I wasn't saying that boycotting Israel is antisemitic... I was just laying out the reason why they are doing this.

I personally don't agree with it or a lot of the laws in my own nation.

originally posted by: dfnj2015
a reply to: blueman12

The United States of Israel

There was another group of people in a nation once that were communist and blamed the Jews for everything...

originally posted by: scraedtosleep
a reply to: Lumenari

Personally, I think hate speech is part of freedom of speech and anyone should be able to say whatever they want, no matter how abhorrent or vile.

Agreed.

It should be up to the individual to decide if they want to be nice and spare someones feelings or not.
Not the governments.

And we should except the consequences of what we say. Even if it means a punch in the face.

Freedom of speech wasn't something specifically included in the Bill of Rights to protect speech that everyone agreed with.

It was to protect speech that nobody agreed with.

THAT was the whole point... it allowed all viewpoints to be debated, talked about, kept or discarded.

A PC culture inhibits that and does not allow bad ideas to die off on their own.

That is the weirdest anti-seminism law I ever did hear of. I wonder how come they wrote it that way? Maybe they have some Jewish people who have influence over the people in government there, or they have some jewish people in their state government.

Here is a little information on the BDS laws. Evidently 26 states have laws that stop boycot discrimination against Israel. A company just has to sign that they will not support the anti-seminist activist agenda to hurt Israel. It has to do with the Palestine and Israel conflict and businesses and activists boycotting Israel products or jewish businesses I think.

Freedom of speech or freedom of press does not give a person the right to destroy someone's income just because of their ethnicity.

a reply to: blueman12

Wow, that is bizarre! I hope she loses, so it can eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court, where she will most assuredly win!

My thoughts are similar to Lumenari's.

It's easier to know who's a hateful little bigot when they aren't afraid to spout their BS.

originally posted by: Lumenari

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: Lumenari

I don't Boycott Israel... But I think their foreign policy should be theirs, and not part of mine.

It's not antisemitic... I have nothing against people of the Jewish faith.

I'm critical of Saudi Arabia, home of Mecca. Doesn't mean I think all Muslims are bad.

Hell, I'm critical of my own nation... Yet I love it and wouldn't move if someone paid me. I love it because I can say what I want... And I don't think I've ever advocated for the feds or states to be able to control speech.

Oh, I wasn't saying that boycotting Israel is antisemitic... I was just laying out the reason why they are doing this.

I personally don't agree with it or a lot of the laws in my own nation.

I get why someone would think to do this, but unfortunately they fan the flames of anti-semitism when they enact laws like this.

When you put into law people can't express their opinion on our foreign relations and policy with Israel... It will just give fodder to the trope Jews run the world and America (which I don't agree with).