June 15, 2020 | The Jerusalem Post

American actor James Woods urges Congress to pass anti-BDS resolution

He seeks resolution based on Austria's anti-BDS measure.
June 15, 2020 | The Jerusalem Post

American actor James Woods urges Congress to pass anti-BDS resolution

He seeks resolution based on Austria's anti-BDS measure.

Prominent US actor James Woods on Sunday urged Congress to pass a resolution against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“This is the kind of resolution I would hope we would see in our American Congress. #Israel,” he tweeted to his 2.4 million followers.

In his message, he embedded a tweet from American Jewish Committee executive director David Harris, who had praised the Austrian Parliament’s anti-BDS resolution in February.

The Jerusalem Post was the first news organization outside of Austria to report on the parliament’s unanimous vote to condemn BDS as an antisemitic movement.

Woods, a conservative, is widely considered one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. He portrayed the Jewish character Max in the crime drama Once Upon a Time in America in 1984. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his performances in Salvador (1987) and Ghosts of Mississippi (1996). In 1978, he played the lead role of Karl Weiss, an artist, in the US television series Holocaust.

Woods was born in 1947, and his performances have spanned television, film and theater. He is widely viewed as one the strongest supporters for Israel’s security from the US acting community.

Germany’s Bundestag passed an anti-BDS resolution in 2019, comparing BDS to the Nazis’ boycott of Jewish businesses.

The US House of Representatives passed a resolution against BDS in 2019. It did not explicitly link BDS to being animated by Jew-hatred in the same language as the German and Austrian resolutions.

The vote was 398-17, with five abstentions. Sixteen Democrats opposed the resolution, including two who back BDS, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the only Republican who opposed it.

In March 2019, US Senators Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) introduced a bipartisan resolution that opposes efforts “to delegitimize Israel or circumvent direct negotiations, specifically the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.”

“This bipartisan legislation sends a clear message that politically motivated boycotts of Israel are unacceptable to the United States,” Portman said. “I’m pleased to introduce this resolution with Senator Cardin that says the United States stands against illegitimate attempts to isolate our ally Israel or impose policy solutions to issues that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”

Benjamin Weinthal is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal

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