The Netherlands has rejected calls by Israel to declare the international campaign calling for the boycott of Israeli products, illegal. On Thursday the Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said that the Dutch government had told Tel Aviv that joining the campaign was an issue of free speech, to which the Dutch people are entitled. Press TV reports: Netherlands is the second country in the European Union to have announced its support for people’s right to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. “Statements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly as enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” Koenders said. Dutch Ambassador to Israel Gilles Beschoor Plug defended Koender’s remarks, saying that joining the campaign in Holland “is not illegal and therefore it falls within the limits of freedom.” “As long as what one says is not illegal you are free to say it,” he added. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon denounced the decision, saying there had to be “limits” on the concept of freedom of speech. Israel has been pressuring the US and European countries to introduce legislation and take other repressive measures to confront the BDS movement. In February, Britain introduced [...]