Ilhan Omar submits legislation to protect Israel boycott movement

Democratic Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar submits two pieces of legislation to Congress, one of which aims to protect Americans’ right to participate in the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel.

“We are introducing a resolution… to really speak about the American values that support and believe in our ability to exercise our first amendment rights in regard to boycotting,” Omar tells the Al-Monitor news site in an interview. “And it is an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support a nonviolent movement, which is the BDS movement.”

Omar’s bill does not specifically mention Israel, but it states that “all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

Omar is one of the four Democratic congresswoman targeted by US President Donald Trump in his recent racist tirades. He singled out Omar, in particular, accusing her of being anti-Semitic and having “hatred” for Israel.

The second bill submitted by Omar this morning would force the Trump administration to disclose details about how it shares the FBI’s watchlist of more than 1 million known or suspected terrorists with foreign countries.

The legislation from Omar comes in a proposed amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act. It would require a report within 180 days detailing which foreign countries get access to the database and how such decisions are made.

The watchlist has been subject to multiple lawsuits challenging its constitutionality. Critics say the list is mismanaged and innocent Muslims end up on it with no recourse for clearing their names.

Omar has expressed concerns that countries with poor human-rights records such as Saudi Arabia and China receive the list and submit names for inclusion.

— with AP