Just last month KNI published an article reporting on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s opposition to the BDS movement. He tweeted:
I am signing an Executive Order that says very clearly we are against the BDS movement. If you boycott Israel, New York will boycott you.
Pointing out the fact that he was the first governor to sign an executive order in support of Israel, Cuomo said he hoped that other governors would follow suit.
It hasn’t taken long because this week, when Atlanta’s Mayor received a similar demand to boycott something Israeli, he turned it down.
Following a number of protests over the killings of black Americans by police in the United States Atlanta Mayor Mohammed Kasim Reed met with community activists who are associated with the “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) campaign. They had a list of grievances and 25 demands that they presented to the 59th mayor of the city; one of them being to end joint training exercises with the Israeli police. Their words read, “We demand a termination to APD’s involvement in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program, that trains our officers in Apartheid Israel [sic].”
As reported in Arutz Sheva, a journalist asked why the mayor rejected the list of demands and United Methodist-raised Reed said:
I happen to believe that the Israeli police department has some of the best counterterrorism techniques in the world, and it benefits our police department from that longstanding relationship.
Another strong voice of support comes from Mike Pence who has been nominated by Presidential candidate Donald Trump to be his running mate. The Evangelical Christian is the Governor of Indiana and has been recorded saying things like, “Israel is not just our strongest ally in the region, Israel is our most cherished ally in the world. If the world knows nothing else, let it know this: America stands with Israel.”
Which state will be the next to stand against the BDS movement?