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Ontario passes motion rejecting anti-Israel boycotts

In an overwhelmingly majority vote, Ontario has become the first Canadian province to stand against the anti-Israel BDS movement.

Ontario has become the first Canadian province to reject the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divest and sanction) movement by passing a motion against it.

The provincial legislature on Thursday passed Motion 36, rejecting “the differential treatment of Israel, including the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.”

Introduced by MPP Gila Martow, the motion passed by a vote of 49 to five, with almost half of the 107 members of the legislature absent.

Premier Kathleen Wynne has previously stated that she “entirely oppose the BDS movement,” but added that freedom of speech is “something that all Canadians value and we must vigorously defend.”

The motion, titled “Standing Firm Against Intolerance,” implores the legislature to stand “firmly against any position or movement that promotes or encourages any form of hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in any way; recognizes the longstanding, vibrant and mutually beneficial political, economic and cultural ties between Ontario and Israel, built on a foundation of shared liberal democratic values; endorses the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Anti-Semitism; and rejects the differential treatment of Israel, including the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.”

Last February, the House of Commons endorsed a motion condemning “any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad.” It passed by a vote of 229 to 51.

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The US Congress has also passed a similar resolution, as have 16 US states.

The BDS movement promotes financial, academic and cultural boycotts against Israel, ostensibly as a nonviolent struggle against the so-called “Israeli occupation.”

Critics say its activities are a modern form of anti-Semitism and that its true objective is to destroy the State of Israel.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News