Georgia has become the fifth US state to repeal legislation to deter attempts to boycott Israel, after Kansas, Arizona, Texas and Arkansas, according to the British Middle East Eye news site.
The website reported that a state federal court had ruled that a law designed to undermine the activities of the BDS movement violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The "BDS" movement is a global movement that seeks to expose the practices and racism of the Israeli occupation, to stop all forms of normalization with it, and calls for a boycott of companies supporting Israel, relying on 3 main pillars, which are boycott, divestment and sanctions.
In his ruling issued last Friday, Mark Cohen, Georgia District Court judge, rejected attempts by local officials to refuse to consider a lawsuit filed by an American journalist called Abby Martin who had exposed human rights violations by the Israeli government.
Abe filed a lawsuit challenging the state law after her appearance at a local public university was canceled due to her refusal to sign a contract that binds her to swear an oath not to boycott Israel.
Judge Cohen said in the verdict that "even assuming that Georgia's desire to support foreign policy objectives in relation to relations with Israel is a core interest of the state, the defendants failed to explain the extent to which Abe Martin's support affected Georgia's ability to advance foreign policy goals with Israel." ".
More than a dozen US states have adopted anti-boycott measures, most of which prohibit state entities from doing business with companies or individuals involved in the boycott movement.
"The Israeli government has urged the legislative bodies in the (American) states to enact such legislation only, because it knows that sympathy and support for the population it oppresses, occupies, practices ethnic cleansing and subject them to racial discrimination have finally begun to grow in the popular consciousness," said Abe Martin in a statement.
It is noteworthy that the decision of the federal judge in the state of Georgia comes after an Israeli bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip that lasted 11 days, and after storming the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and dispersing demonstrations by force to protest the expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.