Virginia Governor backs Palestinian calls to boycott Israeli occupation
The candidate for Virginia Governor Lee Carter on Tuesday said he backs Palestinian calls to boycott the Israeli occupation.
During a virtual session for the Virginia People’s Debates series, Carter was asked whether he would approve of issuing a directive against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
“No, I will never do that. I’m a supporter of the BDS movement. I believe that the human rights abuses that are being inflicted upon the Palestinian people are among the worst currently ongoing in the world,” he answered.
Just finished the first Virginia gubernatorial debate, and the choice in this field is clear. There's only one candidate who's never taken a dime from any for-profit corporation, and who has the courage to stand up to BOTH major parties and fight for what's right! pic.twitter.com/ElFtdYCXBP
— Lee J. Carter (@carterforva) March 17, 2021
Here’s Virginia Governor candidate @carterforva giving an answer to if he’d sign laws punish the BDS movement. Pretty damn good, if you ask us pic.twitter.com/iE9QUxYkab
— Left Flank Veterans (@leftflankvets) March 18, 2021
Criticising the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB), he said it is “dedicated to increasing its trade deficit with a foreign country . . . that has a military occupation over a captive population like the Israeli government does with the Palestinian people.”
He addee, “I don’t think we should have an agency like that for any country.”
The 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on 2 November and includes 13 declared candidates: seven Republicans, five Democrats and one independent. Carter co-chaired the Democratic presidential campaign in Virginia of Senator Bernie Sanders.
The pro-Israel community in the United States has made combating the BDS movement one of its principal goals in recent years, due to its aims which are against the occupation of Palestine.
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, as it defines itself, works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure ‘Israel’ to comply with international law.
