Goldstein on i24 News: Nominee for senior human rights position at State Department must denounce previous BDS support

Sarah Margon, President Biden's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, has tweeted support for Airbnb's short-lived boycott of Jewish homeowners in Judea. That is, she has advocated for unlawful discriminatory commercial conduct based on national origin.

During Margon's tenure as the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, the organization relentlessly launched attacks against Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. As you may know, Human Rights Watch just recently released yet another libelous assault on the Jewish State with false charges of "apartheid."

As The Lawfare Project cautioned Airbnb in 2018—shortly after which the online home rental marketplace reversed its boycott—removing Israeli listings (and only Israeli listings) from its platform is illegal. Indeed, it runs afoul of federal anti-boycott legislation and regulations, and it violates laws enacted by more than half of U.S. states prohibiting state contracting with or investment in entities that boycott Israel and Israelis, as well as other state statutes that explicitly outlaw discriminatory business practices based on national origin and other legally protected statuses.

Margon would be well-advised to familiarize herself with these laws, and we call upon her to denounce any type of policy that amounts to unlawful commercial discrimination. Those expressing support for her appointment must similarly call upon her to denounce any such policy.