Australian government moves against local anti-Israel boycott

A proposed boycott of Australian businesses that have ties to Israel has run into difficulties with local authorities launching an investigation into whether the boycott call violates Australian law, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported Monday on its website.

The Victorian Government has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate a campaign by a pro-Palestinian Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) group that has staged several protests calling for a boycott of businesses that do business with Israel.

The international group has targeted branches of chocolate shop Max Brenner in Melbourne and Sydney and plans similar campaigns in other capital cities, ABC reported.

The BDS group describes itself as a "wide coalition of the largest Palestinian organizations, trade unions, networks and NGOs." It accuses Israel of being an "apartheid state" and targets businesses and non-government agencies that have links to Israel.

ABC reports that the Victorian Government believes the actions constitute a "secondary boycott" and are in breach of Commonwealth Laws. The Consumer Affairs Minister, Michael O'Brien, says the campaign contravenes section 45D of the Commonwealth Competition and Consumer Act. "The freedom to protest has always existed but there's no freedom to break the law," he said.

"There's no freedom to break the Competition and Consumer Act and certainly to think you are going to influence the policies of the government of Israel by attacking a business running in this state is just appalling," he said, according to ABC.

On July 1, 19 activists were arrested outside a Max Brenner shop in Melbourne after allegedly chaining themselves to furniture. The pro-Palestinian group has been ordered to not go within 50 meters of the company's two CBD stores.

According to J-Wire, an online Jewish news service for Australia and New Zealand, the protesters have gathered outside Max Brenner stores on several occasions, preventing potential customers from entering the store. The president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Dr. Danny Lamm, said today, “We applaud the Victorian Government for having the moral fiber to stand up to the immoral and illegal BDS campaign." Lamm went on to accuse the protesters of being 'highly selective' about the Israeli products they have targeted. “The BDS organizers will call for a boycott of certain Israeli cosmetics and chocolate products. But they wouldn’t dream of telling you not to use Windows operating systems developed by Microsoft Israel, or mobile phone technology that was refined in Israel by Motorola, or Israeli medical innovations,” he said. “They are not prepared to make any personal sacrifices. It’s a ‘Claytons’ boycott,” he concluded. “The real agenda is to defame Israel, as their slogans reveal."

BDS says it is "outraged" by the State Government's actions.

Spokeswoman Vashti Kenway says the Government is trying to block a legal form of protest.

"This is an attempt by the Government to criminalize any protest against Max Brenner or other corporations that support the state of Israel, and support their offensive toward the Palestinian people, and in particular their support for funding for the Israeli military, which is the point of the protests," she said.

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