Boycotting Israel and the First Amendment
Common sense, and maybe a renewed appreciation for first principles, seems to be stymying dangerous legislation that would undermine free speech in a misguided attempt to appear pro-Israel.
On Friday, BuzzFeed, quoting a pro-Israel Democratic strategist, reported that two major Jewish groups – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Anti-Defamation League – are not planning to back a bill in Congress that would withhold federal funding from American academic entities that boycott Israel.
“There’s no way they’ll say they support it,” the strategist reportedly said. We hope he is right.
The bill was introduced by two Illinois congressmen, Republican Peter Roskam and Democrat Dan Lipinski, in retaliation against the American Studies Association and other groups that support a call by Palestinians to boycott Israeli academic institutions.
In endorsing the boycott in December, the association said it would refuse formal collaborations with Israeli academic institutions, with scholars who represent those institutions, or the Israeli government until “Israel ceases to violate human rights and international law.” The boycott does not apply to individual Israeli scholars engaged in ordinary exchanges.
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http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/boycotting-israel-and-the-first-amendment/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
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