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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Report5 ing of Actions Taken Against the Normalization of Rela6 tions with Israel Act of 2020’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 


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•S 4482 IS

1 (1) The Arab League, an organization com2 prising 22 Middle Eastern and African countries 

3 and entities, has maintained an official boycott of 

4 Israeli companies and Israeli-made goods since the 

5 founding of Israel in 1948. 

6 (2) Longstanding United States policy has en7 couraged Arab League states to normalize their rela8 tions with Israel and has long prioritized funding co9 operative programs that promote normalization be10 tween Arab League States and Israel, including the 

11 Middle East Regional Cooperation program, which 

12 promotes Arab-Israeli scientific cooperation. 

13 (3) While some Arab League governments are 

14 signaling enhanced cooperation with the state of 

15 Israel on the government-to-government level, most 

16 continue to persecute their own citizens who estab17 lish people-to-people relations with Israelis in non18 governmental fora, through a combination of judicial 

19 and extrajudicial retribution. 

20 (4) Some Arab League states maintain draco21 nian anti-normalization laws that punish their citi22 zens for people-to-people relations with Israelis, with 

23 punishments, including imprisonment, revocation of 

24 citizenship, and execution. Extrajudicial punish25 ments by these and other Arab states include sumVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482

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1 mary imprisonment, accusations of ‘‘treason’’ in gov2 ernment-controlled media, and professional black3 listing. 

4 (5) Anti-normalization laws, together with the 

5 other forms of retribution, effectively condemn these 

6 societies to mutual estrangement and, by extension, 

7 reduce the possibility of conciliation and com8 promise. 

9 (6) Despite the risk of retaliatory action, a ris10 ing tide of Arab civic actors advocate direct engage11 ment with Israeli citizens and residents. These in12 clude the Arab Council for Regional Integration, a 

13 group of 32 public figures from 15 Arab countries 

14 who oppose the boycott of Israel on the grounds that 

15 the boycott has denied Arabs the benefits of partner16 ship with Israelis, has blocked Arabs from helping to 

17 bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and inspired di18 visive intra-Arab boycotts among diverse sects and 

19 ethnic groups. 

20 (7) On February 11, 2020, a delegation of the 

21 Arab Council to the French National Assembly in 

22 Paris testified to the harmful effects of ‘‘anti-nor23 malization laws’’, called on the Assembly to enact a 

24 law instructing the relevant French authorities to 

25 issue an annual report on instances of Arab governVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Aug 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4482.IS S4482

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1 ment retribution for any of their citizens or resi2 dents who call for peace with Israel or engage in di3 rect civil relations with Israeli citizens, and re4 quested democratic legislatures to help defend the 

5 region’s civil peacemakers. 

6 (8) On May 11, 2020, 85 leaders in France 

7 published an endorsement of the Arab Council’s pro8 posal, calling on France and other democratic gov9 ernments to ‘‘protect Arabs who engage in dialogue 

10 with Israeli citizens’’ and proposing ‘‘the creation of 

11 a study group in the National Assembly as well as 

12 in the Senate whose mission would be to ensure a 

13 legal and technical monitoring of the obstacles which 

14 Arab proponents of dialogue with Israelis face’’. 

15 (9) Arab-Israeli cooperation provides significant 

16 symbiotic benefit to the security and economic pros17 perity of the region. 

18 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REPORTING IN THE ANNUAL HUMAN 

19 RIGHTS REPORT. 

20 The Secretary of State shall include in the Country 

21 Report on Human Rights Practices submitted annually for 

22 each of 2021 through 2026 under section 116(d) of the 

23 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) the 

24 following information: 


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1 (1) The status of ‘‘anti-normalization laws’’ in 

2 each country within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 

3 Near Eastern Affairs, including indigenous efforts to 

4 sharpen existing laws, enact new or additional ‘‘anti5 normalization legislation’’, or repeal such laws. 

6 (2) Instances of prosecution of citizens or resi7 dents of Arab countries for calling for peace with 

8 Israel, visiting the state of Israel, or in any way en9 gaging Israeli citizens in any country. 

10 (3) Instances of extrajudicial retribution by 

11 Arab governments or government-controlled institu12 tions against citizens or residents of Arab countries 

13 for any of the same actions. 

14 (4) Evidence of steps taken by Arab govern15 ments toward permitting or encouraging people-to16 people relations between their citizens or residents 

17 and Israeli citizens. 

Æ 


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