|
RESOLUTION NO. 2020 - 303-
<br /> A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SUNNY
<br /> ISLES BEACH, FLORIDA,DENOUNCING THE BOYCOTT DIVESTMENT
<br /> AND SANCTIONS MOVEMENT; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
<br /> WHEREAS, the City of Sunny Isles Beach ("City") strongly opposes the practice of
<br /> economic discrimination and boycotts of persons and/or entities on the basis of race, color,
<br /> religion, gender or national origin; and
<br /> WHEREAS,the United States Constitution protects the rights of United States citizens to
<br /> articulate political views, including with respect to the policies of the United States or foreign
<br /> governments; and
<br /> WHEREAS, American policy has long sought to bring peace to the Middle East and
<br /> recognized that both the Israeli and Palestinian people should be able to live in safe and sovereign
<br /> states, free from fear and violence, with mutual recognition; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement ("BDS
<br /> Movement") targeting Israel is a campaign that does not favor a two-state solution and that seeks
<br /> to exclude the State of Israel and the Israeli people from the economic, cultural, and academic life
<br /> of the rest of the world; and
<br /> WHEREAS,the founder of the BDS Movement, Omar Barghouti, has denied the right of
<br /> the Jewish people in their homeland, saying, "We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.
<br /> No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in
<br /> Palestine."; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the BDS Movement targets not only the Israeli government but also Israeli
<br /> academic,cultural,and civil society institutions,as well as individual Israeli citizens of all political
<br /> persuasions, religions, and ethnicities, and in some cases even Jews of other nationalities who
<br /> support Israel; and
<br /> WHEREAS,the BDS Movement does not recognize,and many of its supporters explicitly
<br /> deny, the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination; and
<br /> WHEREAS, university-based BDS efforts violate the core goals of the university and
<br /> global cultural development, which thrive on free and open exchange and debate, and in some
<br /> cases, leads to the intimidation and harassment of Jewish students and others who support Israel;
<br /> and
<br /> WHEREAS, the BDS Movement promotes principles of collective guilt, mass
<br /> punishment, and group isolation, which are destructive of prospects for progress towards peace
<br /> and a two-state solution; and
<br /> WHEREAS,boycotts and similar tools aimed at promoting racial justice and social change
<br /> have been used effectively in the United States, South Africa, and other parts of the world,
<br /> however, the BDS Movement targeting Israel is not about promoting coexistence, civil rights, and
<br /> political reconciliation but about questioning and undermining the very legitimacy of the country
<br /> and its people; and
<br /> R2020 Denouncing BDS Page 1 of 3
<br />
|