Zachor Legal Institute Urges En Banc Review of Eighth Circuit Decision on Anti-Discrimination Law

By Marc Greendorer, Zachor Legal Institute February 12, 2021 

A divided panel of the Eighth Circuit struck down an anti-discrimination law on narrow grounds, putting all other anti-discrimination laws in jeopardy.

BOZEMAN, MONTANA, UNITED STATES, February 12, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Press Release – For Immediate Release

Media Contacts
Marc Greendorfer
marc@zachorlegal.org

Zachor Legal Institute Urges Eighth Circuit En Banc Review for Arkansas Anti-Discrimination Law.

Among Zachor Legal Institute’s areas of focus is confronting discriminatory boycotts that have been promoted by a group known as the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (“BDS”) movement. The BDS movement has deep and extensive ties to designated foreign terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and has infiltrated a number of organizations to spread a discriminatory agenda aimed at Jews and companies that do business with and in Israel. The ultimate goal of BDS is to disenfranchise Jews, the indigenous people of the land of Israel, and ethnically cleanse Israel. BDS activity has now been embraced by far left extremists as well as white supremacist groups, united in their promotion of anti-Semitism.

On February 12, 2021, a divided three judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion reversing a denial of a preliminary injunction sought by opponents of an Arkansas law restricting when the state can do business with those engaging in discriminatory boycotts (19-1378 Arkansas Times LP v. Mark Waldrip, et al.)

The lower court properly found that the Arkansas law, Act 710, a narrowly tailored and common sense law designed to ensure that the state did not fund anti-Semitic boycotts while not affecting the right of individuals to speak on the topic, complied with the First Amendment. Two of the three judges on the Eighth Circuit panel misinterpreted the text of Act 710 to find that it was vague while the third judge found the text to not only be specific, but also argued that the lower court’s decision should have been upheld.

The lower court engaged in a reasoned analysis of existing First Amendment case law on boycott activity and found that the case relied upon by BDS activists, NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., did not protect the types of boycotts promoted by BDS and subject to Act 710, which are secondary boycotts relating to foreign conflicts.

As Zachor has pointed out in its scholarship and court briefs, Claiborne is limited to protest activity that relates to the 14th Amendment rights of those engaging in the boycotts, such as African Americans protesting local officials who promoted a pattern of race based discrimination. Act 710 does not touch upon the right of individuals to protest in support of their 14th Amendment rights. Instead, it simply prevents the state from becoming entangled in foreign disputes.

The case that controls the type of boycotts regulated by Act 710, as the lower court confirmed in denying the request to enjoin the enforcement of Act 710, is International Longshoremen’s Ass’n v. Allied International. In International Longshoremen’s, U.S. workers who opposed the Soviet Union’s actions in Afghanistan engaged in a secondary boycott against the Soviet Union and the Supreme Court found that their boycott activity was not protected by the First Amendment.

BDS boycotts are precisely analogous to the boycotts in International Longshoremen’s, as those engaging in BDS activity in the United States are engaging in a secondary boycott targeting a foreign nation, with no Fourteenth Amendment rights of the boycotters implicated. The Eighth Circuit never reached the question of secondary boycott activity unrelated to the rights of those boycotting, even though this was the core First Amendment question in the case. Instead, the court found three words in Act 710 used to define discriminatory boycotts subject to the law to be vague and on that basis, reversed the lower court.

Zachor submitted an amicus brief in this Eighth Circuit case and will continue to support the state of Arkansas, and more than half of all other U.S. states, as they confront the spread of anti-Semitism promoted by BDS. If the Eighth Circuit’s decision stands, all state antidiscrimination laws will be in jeopardy. We urge an En Banc review by the Eighth Circuit.

About Zachor Legal Institute: Zachor Legal Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, uses the law to defend against anti-Semitism and delegitimization of Israel, with a focus on opposing BDS. To learn more, please visit www.zachorlegal.org.

Marc Greendorer
Zachor Legal Institute
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Zachor Legal Institute: Airbnb IPO Hides Disturbing Danger to Investors Relating to Israel Boycott

Ron Machol, @ Zachor Legal Institute, December 15, 2020

At this point, it is not known whether Airbnb will resume boycotting Jewish property owners in exchange for being removed from the UN blacklist, which makes full disclosure of the issue imperative.”

— Marc Greendorfer, President of Zachor Legal Institute

RED LEVEL, AL, USA, December 15, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Two years ago, Airbnb announced that they would stop listing certain Jewish-owned properties, a blatant case of antisemitism.

Airbnb’s boycott of Jewish-owned properties in the historic land of Israel violated US federal and state laws, and after lawsuits were filed, and other actions threatened against Airbnb, the company ultimately rescinded their boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.

Airbnb’s discriminatory actions indicated that they are not averse to such steps, and there is a risk that they may re-institute such a boycott in the future.

Airbnb’s Registration Statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ahead of the IPO made no mention of the fact that Airbnb has a record of elevating third-party stakeholder interests over shareholder expectations of profit, an omission that Zachor Legal Institute identified as a likely violation of SEC rules requiring that registrants provide investors with all relevant material facts. In addition to Airbnb’s failure to discuss its propensity for violating established Delaware law on shareholder wealth maximization, Airbnb utterly failed to discuss the financial impact of losing tax benefits as a result of engaging in unsanctioned boycotts.

Among Zachor Legal Institute’s areas of focus is confronting discriminatory boycotts that have been promoted by a group known as the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (“BDS”) movement. The BDS movement has deep and extensive ties to designated foreign terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and has infiltrated a number of organizations to spread a discriminatory agenda aimed at Jews and companies that do business with and in Israel.

To spread its unlawful boycott, the BDS movement (including through its allies at the United Nations) has published a blacklist of Israeli companies that it targets for boycotts. To cloak its illicit activities with a patina of legitimacy, BDS movement operatives have lobbied a number of corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) organizations and coerced them into including Jewish-owned companies on their blacklists for no reason other than the fact that the companies operate in Israel or have pro-Israel individuals in management.

Boycotts of Israel are prohibited under federal law in the United States. Companies that engage in prohibited boycotts can be subjected to prosecution and can also lose tax benefits. Furthermore, approximately half of all states in the United States have enacted laws that prohibit those states from entering into contracts with, or investing in, any company that participates in boycotts against Israel.

Marc Greendorfer, President of Zachor Legal Institute, remarked:

"In the past several years, Airbnb has been involved in unlawful and discriminatory boycotts of Jewish property owners. Airbnb’s policy was blatantly antisemitic, as it banned Jewish property owners from participating in its rental programs while allowing non-Jewish property owners in the same area to list properties. In addition, although there are more than 100 disputed territories designated by the UN, Airbnb chose to target only Israel.

As a consequence of Airbnb’s adoption of the BDS movement’s unlawful discriminatory boycotts of Jews, Airbnb was sued in a number of American courts as well as in Israel and was reported to federal authorities. Ultimately, Airbnb rescinded its discriminatory boycott of Jews and, for doing this, was placed on the UN blacklist. At this point, it is not known whether Airbnb will resume boycotting Jewish property owners in exchange for being removed from the UN blacklist, which makes full disclosure of the issue imperative. There is every reason to believe that antisemitic activists will resume pressuring Airbnb when they see that Airbnb’s securities are publicly traded."

About Zachor Legal Institute: Zachor Legal Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, uses the law to defend against anti-Semitism and delegitimization of Israel, with a focus on opposing BDS. To learn more, please visit www.zachorlegal.org.

Zachor Legal Asks DOJ to Investigate BLM for Terror Connections and Other Criminal Activity

Ron Machol, @ Zachor Legal Institute January 27, 2021

Zachor Legal has asked the United States Department of Justice to investigate ties between Black Lives Matter and designated foreign terror organizations.

The BDS Movement successfully integrated anti-Semitism into modern American culture and their words and tactics have been embraced by Black Lives Matter.”

— Marc Greendorfer, President of Zachor Legal Institute

RED LEVEL, AL, USA, July 9, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Zachor Legal Institute (www.zachorlegal.org) has asked the United States Department of Justice to investigate apparent ties between Black Lives Matter (BLM) and designated foreign terror organizations.

In the ongoing riots and social unrest, BLM has regularly partnered with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) organizations with ties to designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestine Islamic Jihad. These terror organizations pioneered the targeting of civilian populations for mass casualty attacks and have now found a willing partner in the United States.

A recent news story on the Black Lives Matter riots shows the extent of the reach of terror organizations into current domestic unrest, with designated terror groups openly calling the BLM riots an “intifada” (a term used by Palestinian terrorists when they seek the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their homeland) and explicitly pledging their support to BLM. BLM groups, on the other hand, have reciprocated with pledges of their support for terror groups and promises to further the work of terror groups in the U.S.

Indeed, the BLM/BDS alliance not only uses the language of their terrorist partners, they also utilize the tactics of those terror groups. From the use of improvised weapons and the targeting of the most vulnerable members of society to the resurrection of hoary Marxist agitprop, BLM is rapidly incorporating the international terror playbook for its U.S. insurrection.

Marc Greendorfer, president of Zachor Legal Institute said: “The BDS Movement successfully integrated anti-Semitism into modern American culture and their words and tactics have been embraced by Black Lives Matter. With the adoption of Islamist terror tactics by BLM, we urge the Department of Justice to take action to fully investigate the ties among Black Lives Matter, their BDS partners and foreign terror groups that are promoting violence and unrest in the United States.”