The second letter, by Norman D. Kline, makes a distinction between boycotts of targets inside the USA and outside the USA sovereign land to justify prohibiting international boycotts while allowing boycotts that don't cross international borders (stop at 'the water's edge').
in the case of NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., the court upheld the right of African American citizens to boycott merchants in Port Gibson, Miss., who discriminated against them in violation of their 14th Amendment right to equal protection of the laws. However, this was a domestic case involving protection of constitutional rights where there was no valid countervailing law prohibiting such a boycott, and the court specifically noted that had there been such a law, its decision might have been different.
The Export Administration Act, which was amended in 1977 to prohibit boycotts against Israel, and the Ribicoff Amendment to the Tax Reform Act of 1976 have the same objective.
Congress made clear that it is the policy of the United States to make it unlawful for any U.S. company to participate in such boycotts. Congress created the Office of Antiboycott Compliance and provided for criminal and administrative penalties against any company violating these laws.
Because participation in an anti-Israel boycott is unlawful under federal law, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R) executive order cooperates with the federal government and helps prevent Maryland companies from incurring penalties under federal law. People who oppose this law and its underlying policy are free to speak up against it and urge Congress to repeal it.
Norman D. Kline, Bethesda
A Kansas case overruling state anti-boycott laws, dismissed in July, may undermine Norman D. Kline’s interpretation that Export Administration Act and the Abraham Ribicoff amendment to the 1976 Tax Reform Act protecting only Israel from boycotts by the League of Arab States since 1948. The dismissal led to a change in the Kansas law selectively criminalizing boycotts that limited the ban to state contracts over $100,000 and didn't apply to individuals only businesses.
The League of Arab States (Arab League) boycott is less selective and more broadly targeted even to individual actors who happen to be Israeli citizens by birth or naturalization such as Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman 2017 film) or Haya Hanareet (Ben Hur 1959 film).
The Palestinian BDS movement since 2005 has been led by Palestinians themselves and narrowly targeted businesses which profit mostly from military contracts supplying products and services which deny Palestinians equality and equity in freedom of movement of their persons and their goods required under the 1949 Geneva Conventions that constitute international law.
The niece of Abraham Ribicoff, who amended the 1976 Tax Reform Act,
Gail Rubin, was a 'victim of terror.'
Per page 7 in the image below, or here,
Abraham Ribicoff, before being elected USA Senator from Connecticut, as a Democrat, with the ‘goodwill’ and name recognition gained from prior cabinet service, was Pres. John F Kennedy’s Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (department later divided into separate Education and Health and Human Services departments). Mr Ribicoff served with other Jewish appointees and nominees in the Kennedy administration (with assumed zionist sympathies by conflating Judaism with zionism.
Conflating Judaism with zionism was also done on social media platform of twitter by emktintin and disputed well here.
Uncle and Senator Abraham Ribicoff wanted to be harsher instead of supporting the Israeli and Palestinian peace community organizational ancestor of Combatants for Peace, Breaking the Silence, Peace Now, J Street, Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now or perhaps Gush Shalom. Or the Parents' Circle?
Senator Abraham Ribicoff chose the path of legal prosecution and punishment rather than attempting to understand the motive, not to be confused with support for motive only condemnation of violent, not nonviolent, tactics in organizing for equality and justice peace can never flourish without.
Other victims of terror made other choices. Their choice simply wasn’t reported as widely (amplified) to encourage repetition.
In a 2017 executive order Maryland Governor Larry
Hogan demonstrated that caving in to special interests sadly remains the political norm.
Special interests, selectively criminalizing the free speech inherent in BDS tactics, date back to conflated victimhood to the use of the terrorism tactic between Israeli victims and survivors and former USA Senator Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT) who later banned USA corporate participation with the League of Arab States boycott that USA Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) is trying to continue by extending the criminalization to a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement.
More context on former USA Senator Abraham Ribicoff's involvement in Israel-Palestine peace issues here describing his involvement in a CODEL (Congressional Delegation) to study USA nuclear weapons sales to Israel, Egypt and Iran.
