Bill Summary
This bill, titled the "Strengthening Reporting of Actions Taken Against the Normalization of Relations with Israel Act of 2020," requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual report to Congress detailing instances of retaliation by Arab governments against their citizens and residents who engage in people-to-people relations with Israelis. The bill cites the longstanding official boycott of Israeli companies and goods by the Arab League and acknowledges the United States' policy of encouraging normalization between Arab League states and Israel. It also highlights the efforts of some Arab civic actors who advocate for direct engagement with Israelis, despite the potential for retribution from their governments. The bill directs the Secretary of State to include information on the status of anti-normalization laws in Arab countries, prosecutions and extrajudicial retribution against citizens or residents for engaging with Israelis, and any steps taken by Arab governments to promote people-to-people relations with Israel in the annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices.
Possible Impacts
1. People who engage in people-to-people relations with Israelis may face persecution and retaliation from their own government, resulting in imprisonment, revocation of citizenship, or even execution.
2. The legislation may encourage more Arab civic actors to advocate for direct engagement with Israeli citizens and residents, despite the risk of retaliatory action.
3. The annual report required by this legislation may lead to increased awareness and accountability for instances of retribution against those who call for peace and engage in civil relations with Israelis.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4482 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4482
To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress an annual
report regarding instances of Arab government retribution toward
citizens and residents who engage in people-to-people relations with
Israelis.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2020
Mr. Booker (for himself and Mr. Portman) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress an annual
report regarding instances of Arab government retribution toward
citizens and residents who engage in people-to-people relations with
Israelis.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Reporting of Actions
Taken Against the Normalization of Relations with Israel Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Arab League, an organization comprising 22 Middle
Eastern and African countries and entities, has maintained an
official boycott of Israeli companies and Israeli-made goods
since the founding of Israel in 1948.
(2) Longstanding United States policy has encouraged Arab
League states to normalize their relations with Israel and has
long prioritized funding cooperative programs that promote
normalization between Arab League States and Israel, including
the Middle East Regional Cooperation program, which promotes
Arab-Israeli scientific cooperation.
(3) While some Arab League governments are signaling
enhanced cooperation with the state of Israel on the
government-to-government level, most continue to persecute
their own citizens who establish people-to-people relations
with Israelis in nongovernmental fora, through a combination of
judicial and extrajudicial retribution.
(4) Some Arab League states maintain draconian anti-
normalization laws that punish their citizens for people-to-
people relations with Israelis, with punishments, including
imprisonment, revocation of citizenship, and execution.
Extrajudicial punishments by these and other Arab states
include summary imprisonment, accusations of ``treason'' in
government-controlled media, and professional blacklisting.
(5) Anti-normalization laws, together with the other forms
of retribution, effectively condemn these societies to mutual
estrangement and, by extension, reduce the possibility of
conciliation and compromise.
(6) Despite the risk of retaliatory action, a rising tide
of Arab civic actors advocate direct engagement with Israeli
citizens and residents. These include the Arab Council for
Regional Integration, a group of 32 public figures from 15 Arab
countries who oppose the boycott of Israel on the grounds that
the boycott has denied Arabs the benefits of partnership with
Israelis, has blocked Arabs from helping to bridge the Israeli-
Palestinian divide, and inspired divisive intra-Arab boycotts
among diverse sects and ethnic groups.
(7) On February 11, 2020, a delegation of the Arab Council
to the French National Assembly in Paris testified to the
harmful effects of ``anti-normalization laws'', called on the
Assembly to enact a law instructing the relevant French
authorities to issue an annual report on instances of Arab
government retribution for any of their citizens or residents
who call for peace with Israel or engage in direct civil
relations with Israeli citizens, and requested democratic
legislatures to help defend the region's civil peacemakers.
(8) On May 11, 2020, 85 leaders in France published an
endorsement of the Arab Council's proposal, calling on France
and other democratic governments to ``protect Arabs who engage
in dialogue with Israeli citizens'' and proposing ``the
creation of a study group in the National Assembly as well as
in the Senate whose mission would be to ensure a legal and
technical monitoring of the obstacles which Arab proponents of
dialogue with Israelis face''.
(9) Arab-Israeli cooperation provides significant symbiotic
benefit to the security and economic prosperity of the region.
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REPORTING IN THE ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT.
The Secretary of State shall include in the Country Report on Human
Rights Practices submitted annually for each of 2021 through 2026 under
section 116(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151n(d)) the following information:
(1) The status of ``anti-normalization laws'' in each
country within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Near Eastern
Affairs, including indigenous efforts to sharpen existing laws,
enact new or additional ``anti-normalization legislation'', or
repeal such laws.
(2) Instances of prosecution of citizens or residents of
Arab countries for calling for peace with Israel, visiting the
state of Israel, or in any way engaging Israeli citizens in any
country.
(3) Instances of extrajudicial retribution by Arab
governments or government-controlled institutions against
citizens or residents of Arab countries for any of the same
actions.
(4) Evidence of steps taken by Arab governments toward
permitting or encouraging people-to-people relations between
their citizens or residents and Israeli citizens.
<all>