Strengthening Reporting of Actions Taken Against the Normalization of Relations with Israel Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4482 To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress an annual report regarding instances of Arab government retribution toward citizens and residents who engage in people-to-people relations with Israelis. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 6, 2020 Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To require the Secretary of State to submit to Congress an annual report regarding instances of Arab government retribution toward citizens and residents who engage in people-to-people relations with Israelis. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Report- 4 ing of Actions Taken Against the Normalization of Rela- 5 tions with Israel Act of 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4482 IS (1) The Arab League, an organization com- 1 prising 22 Middle Eastern and African countries 2 and entities, has maintained an official boycott of 3 Israeli companies and Israeli-made goods since the 4 founding of Israel in 1948. 5 (2) Longstanding United States policy has en- 6 couraged Arab League states to normalize their rela- 7 tions with Israel and has long prioritized funding co- 8 operative programs that promote normalization be- 9 tween Arab League States and Israel, including the 10 Middle East Regional Cooperation program, which 11 promotes Arab-Israeli scientific cooperation. 12 (3) While some Arab League governments are 13 signaling enhanced cooperation with the state of 14 Israel on the government-to-government level, most 15 continue to persecute their own citizens who estab- 16 lish people-to-people relations with Israelis in non- 17 governmental fora, through a combination of judicial 18 and extrajudicial retribution. 19 (4) Some Arab League states maintain draco- 20 nian anti-normalization laws that punish their citi- 21 zens for people-to-people relations with Israelis, with 22 punishments, including imprisonment, revocation of 23 citizenship, and execution. Extrajudicial punish- 24 ments by these and other Arab states include sum- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4482 IS mary imprisonment, accusations of ‘‘treason’’ in gov- 1 ernment-controlled media, and professional black- 2 listing. 3 (5) Anti-normalization laws, together with the 4 other forms of retribution, effectively condemn these 5 societies to mutual estrangement and, by extension, 6 reduce the possibility of conciliation and com- 7 promise. 8 (6) Despite the risk of retaliatory action, a ris- 9 ing tide of Arab civic actors advocate direct engage- 10 ment with Israeli citizens and residents. These in- 11 clude the Arab Council for Regional Integration, a 12 group of 32 public figures from 15 Arab countries 13 who oppose the boycott of Israel on the grounds that 14 the boycott has denied Arabs the benefits of partner- 15 ship with Israelis, has blocked Arabs from helping to 16 bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and inspired di- 17 visive intra-Arab boycotts among diverse sects and 18 ethnic groups. 19 (7) On February 11, 2020, a delegation of the 20 Arab Council to the French National Assembly in 21 Paris testified to the harmful effects of ‘‘anti-nor- 22 malization laws’’, called on the Assembly to enact a 23 law instructing the relevant French authorities to 24 issue an annual report on instances of Arab govern- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4482 IS ment retribution for any of their citizens or resi- 1 dents who call for peace with Israel or engage in di- 2 rect civil relations with Israeli citizens, and re- 3 quested democratic legislatures to help defend the 4 region’s civil peacemakers. 5 (8) On May 11, 2020, 85 leaders in France 6 published an endorsement of the Arab Council’s pro- 7 posal, calling on France and other democratic gov- 8 ernments to ‘‘protect Arabs who engage in dialogue 9 with Israeli citizens’’ and proposing ‘‘the creation of 10 a study group in the National Assembly as well as 11 in the Senate whose mission would be to ensure a 12 legal and technical monitoring of the obstacles which 13 Arab proponents of dialogue with Israelis face’’. 14 (9) Arab-Israeli cooperation provides significant 15 symbiotic benefit to the security and economic pros- 16 perity of the region. 17 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REPORTING IN THE ANNUAL HUMAN 18 RIGHTS REPORT. 19 The Secretary of State shall include in the Country 20 Report on Human Rights Practices submitted annually for 21 each of 2021 through 2026 under section 116(d) of the 22 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) the 23 following information: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4482 IS (1) The status of ‘‘anti-normalization laws’’ in 1 each country within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 2 Near Eastern Affairs, including indigenous efforts to 3 sharpen existing laws, enact new or additional ‘‘anti- 4 normalization legislation’’, or repeal such laws. 5 (2) Instances of prosecution of citizens or resi- 6 dents of Arab countries for calling for peace with 7 Israel, visiting the state of Israel, or in any way en- 8 gaging Israeli citizens in any country. 9 (3) Instances of extrajudicial retribution by 10 Arab governments or government-controlled institu- 11 tions against citizens or residents of Arab countries 12 for any of the same actions. 13 (4) Evidence of steps taken by Arab govern- 14 ments toward permitting or encouraging people-to- 15 people relations between their citizens or residents 16 and Israeli citizens. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS