19 Mar 2021; MEMO: The candidate for Virginia Governor Lee Carter on Tuesday said he backs Palestinian calls to boycott the Israeli occupation.
During a virtual session for the Virginia People's Debates series, Carter was asked whether he would approve of issuing a directive against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. "No, I will never do that. I'm a supporter of the BDS movement. I believe that the human rights abuses that are being inflicted upon the Palestinian people are among the worst currently ongoing in the world," he said.
Criticising the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB), he said it is "dedicated to increasing its trade deficit with a foreign country . . . that has a military occupation over a captive population like the Israeli government does with the Palestinian people."
Adding: "I don't think we should have an agency like that for any country."
The 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on 2 November and includes 13 declared candidates: seven Republicans, five Democrats and one independent. Carter co-chaired the Democratic presidential campaign in Virginia of Senator Bernie Sanders.
