Visitors arriving at the new main gate of the state fair Thursday afternoon might have spotted about 20 people holding signs denouncing an executive order issued by Governor Cuomo in June that they say supports Israel’s violation of Palestinian human rights. Ariel Gold is campaign organizer with Code Pink Women for Peace, and happened to get the governor’s ear as he left the fairgrounds.
"I said to the governor you need to rescind your executive order creating a blacklist for those boycotting Israel, and I told him the reasons why we boycott."
Including, Gold says, separate roads and laws for Israelis and Palestinians; the detention and abuse of Palestinian children; and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
"He really only responded by waving, I think he said 'OK'. We definitely did connect with each other."
Gold says she hopes to follow-up later. Meanwhile, she says they and others will continue a time-honored tradition of boycotting…
"From the Montgomery bus boycott to the grape boycott to the lettuce boycott to the boycott movement that helped end apartheid in South Africa," Gold said. "What Cuomo is doing by creating this blacklist and punishing companies that support the BDS [boycott, divestment, and sanctions] movement, is he's also attacking our first amendment here in the U.S."
Columbia University sophomore Zach Aldrich of Oneonta says the issue goes beyond politics.
"You don't even have to look at it as an Israeli thing, a Palestinian thing or a Middle East thing," Aldrich said. "It's a first amendment thing, it's a constitutional issue. That's really what I wish people would recognize."
Ronald Johnson of Rochester feels the matter needs more attention.
"It by and large doesn't get any coverage," Johnson said. "It's in other states, also, that this move is being taken without real public exposure."
The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that they say Cuomo is seeking to repress is a Palestinian led effort that dates back to 2005.
GOVERNOR CUOMO KICKS OFF THE FAIR
The governor arrived before the gates opened to officially cut the ribbon on the fair and the newly redesigned fairgrounds. Cuomo also took a tour of the grounds, less than a year after unveiling a sweeping $50 million revitalization plan. Features include a new main entry gate, upgraded midway and new Empire RV Park.
