The European Court of Human Rights struck a major blow to Israel’s efforts to silence its critics on Thursday when it overturned the criminal convictions against 11 Palestinian rights activists in France. The court ruled unanimously that the convictions against the activists for calling on shoppers to boycott Israeli goods violated the European Convention on Human Rights’ guarantee of freedom of expression. The court has ordered the French government to pay each of the activists about $8,000 in damages and awarded them their legal costs. The ruling is a significant boost to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) that aims to pressure Israel to end its crimes against Palestinians and its violations of international law.
— source electronicintifada.net | 11 Jun 2020