Individuals or organizations who assist the “terrorist activities” of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad would be subject to punishment under the proposed law.
For the third time, Senate Republicans have presented a bill that would target individuals who assist organizations like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Individuals or “foreign states” that “knowingly assist, sponsor, or provide significant support for the terrorist activities of Hamas or PIJ” would face penalties under the “Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad International Terrorism Support Prevention Act”.
These measures include asset freezes, bans on the export of armaments and dual-use goods, and restrictions on large loans and funding from US financial institutions.
A clause in the measure would let members of congressional committees suggest persons and organizations that should be penalized.
The administration would have to decide whether to implement such penalties and then submit its findings to Congress. If the law is passed, the presidential power to waive the sanctions would likewise have a two-year time limit.
The legislation was first presented in 2019 and again in 2021.
Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Kevin Cramer, Bill Cassidy, Mike Braun, Thom Tillis, Rick Scott, John Hoeven, Jerry Moran, Bill Hagerty, Steve Daines, and Todd Young are the bill’s initial sponsors.
The bill, which seeks to impose sanctions against foreign nationals and governments that are actively providing material support to these groups, was reintroduced by Rubio, who said he was proud to do so. “As these terrorist groups continue to show no regard for the people of Israel, I’m proud to do so,” he said.
“Those who support Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorism must be held accountable.”
Rubio against Palestinians
Rubio recently reintroduced a bill to support local and state governments that oppose the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement led by the Palestinians against Israel after several failed attempts to pass the legislation.
Similar to the effective boycott campaigns of apartheid South Africa, the BDS movement is a non-violent effort that seeks to confront Israel’s occupation and violations of Palestinian human rights through economic, cultural, and academic boycotts.
State and local governments that either prohibit contracting with organizations that participate in the BDS movement or divest funds from them would receive congressional support if the Combating BDS Act of 2023 bill passes.
In 2017 and again in 2021, he introduced his bill. It follows a new exertion by legislators in the Place of Delegates to extend regulation to keep US organizations and people from taking part in blacklists of nations “cordial to the US”.
State and local governments that either prohibit contracting with organizations that participate in the BDS movement or divest funds from them would receive congressional support if the Combating BDS Act of 2023 bill passes.
Rubio said in a statement on Thursday that “the BDS movement is the single most destructive campaign of economic warfare against the Jewish state of Israel.” The Senate’s previous approval of this bill would be a significant step toward ending the movement’s discriminatory efforts.
The bill’s cosponsor, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, stated that it would give state and local governments the tools they need to combat “the discriminatory and hate-inspired conduct of the anti-Semitic BDS movement” directed at Israel, “our closest ally in the Middle East.”
The bill is cosponsored by Republican Senators Bill Cassidy, Mike Braun, Rick Scott, and Steve Daines in addition to Hagerty.
