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Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:09 PM Feb 2014

Illinois congressmen submit anti-boycott bill

Source: Times of Israel

WASHINGTON — Only one day after the New York state legislature withdrew a bill that sought to punish would-be participants in academic boycotts of Israel, two Illinois congressmen introduced a bipartisan bill that would block federal funding for American universities engaging in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions or scholars.

Representatives Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) introduced the bipartisan Protect Academic Freedom Act (H.R. 4009) in response to what the legislators see as “the growing threat of unjustified boycotts against the Jewish State of Israel.” The bill’s sponsors cited the December decision by the American Studies Association (ASA) to support an academic boycott as impetus for the legislation.

In a statement released Thursday, the sponsors said that the measure was designed “to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund bigoted attacks against Israel that undermine the fundamental principles of academic freedom.”

“This bipartisan legislation seeks to preserve academic freedom and combat bigotry by shielding Israel from unjust boycotts. It is ludicrous for critics to go after our democratic friend and ally Israel when they should be focusing on the evils perpetrated by repressive, authoritarian regimes like Iran and North Korea,” said Congressman Roskam, the co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus.

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/illinois-congressmen-submit-anti-boycott-bill/



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Illinois congressmen submit anti-boycott bill (Original Post) Jesus Malverde Feb 2014 OP
Pete Roskam is welcome to kiss my ass... truebrit71 Feb 2014 #1
+1 Scuba Feb 2014 #4
A campaign that is gathering weight Jesus Malverde Feb 2014 #2
I'm a little confused atreides1 Feb 2014 #3
“This bipartisan legislation seeks to preserve academic freedom and combat bigotry by ..." Scuba Feb 2014 #5
Boycotting Israel and the First Amendment Jesus Malverde Feb 2014 #6
Calling all lackeys! Calling all lackeys! another_liberal Feb 2014 #7
W...T...F? SoapBox Feb 2014 #8
How about the evil in Russia, Nigeria, Uganda, Alabama? dbackjon Feb 2014 #9
 

truebrit71

(20,805 posts)
1. Pete Roskam is welcome to kiss my ass...
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:14 PM
Feb 2014

...he is supposed to be representing the people of his district in Illinois, NOT the citizens of Israel..

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
2. A campaign that is gathering weight
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:15 PM
Feb 2014

ONCE derided as the scheming of crackpots, the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, widely known as BDS, is turning mainstream. That, at any rate, is the fear of a growing number of Israelis. Some European pension funds have withdrawn investments; some large corporations have cancelled contracts; and the American secretary of state, John Kerry, rarely misses a chance to warn Israel that efforts to “delegitimise” and boycott it will increase if its government spurns his efforts to conclude a two-state settlement of its conflict with the Palestinians. Israel, says Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister, is approaching the same “tipping point” where South Africa found itself in opposition to the rest of the world in the dying days of apartheid. “Let’s not kid ourselves,” he told a conference of security boffins recently in Tel Aviv. “The world listens to us less and less.”

BDS has begun to grab the attention of some of the world’s largest financial institutions. PGGM, a big Dutch pension fund, has liquidated its holdings in five Israeli banks (though the Netherlands’ largest has affirmed its investments). Norway’s finance ministry has announced that it is excluding Africa Israel Investments and its subsidiary, Danya Cebus, a big building firm, from a government pension fund.

The campaign is drawing support from beyond northern Europe. Romania has forbidden its citizens from working for companies in the West Bank. More churches are backing BDS. An American academic association is boycotting Israeli lecturers. The debate turned viral after Scarlett Johansson, a Hollywood actor, quit her role as ambassador for Oxfam, a charity based in Britain, in order to keep her advertising contract with SodaStream, an Israeli drinks firm with a plant on the West Bank.

Mr Lapid, who favours a two-state solution, reels out figures to show how sanctions could hit every Israeli pocket. “If negotiations with the Palestinians stall or blow up and we enter the reality of a European boycott, even a very partial one,” he warned, 10,000 Israelis would “immediately” lose their jobs. Trade with the European Union, a third of Israel’s total, would slump—he calculates—by $5.7 billion.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21595948-israels-politicians-sound-rattled-campaign-isolate-their-country

Money talks....

atreides1

(16,079 posts)
3. I'm a little confused
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:18 PM
Feb 2014

Are any American universities conducting business or engaging academically with Iran or North Korea?

 

Scuba

(53,475 posts)
5. “This bipartisan legislation seeks to preserve academic freedom and combat bigotry by ..."
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:21 PM
Feb 2014

Um, by limiting academic freedom and protecting bigotry???? Huh?

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
6. Boycotting Israel and the First Amendment
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:22 PM
Feb 2014
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.


A similar anti-boycott bill, introduced by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was on a fast-track in the New York State Legislature until it was abruptly withdrawn this week after outraged educators and legal groups denounced it as an assault on academic freedom.

The turnabout has been described by some as a political earthquake in Albany since Mr. Silver’s bills are almost always adopted and this one had already passed the state senate on a vote of 56 to 4.

Perhaps this is a sign that supporters of Israel are coming to understand that such legislation would do nothing to enhance Israel’s security or protect it from having to compromise on a peace deal. The legislation would, on the other hand, weaken America and its bedrock commitment to free speech and peaceful political dissent.


http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/boycotting-israel-and-the-first-amendment/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
 

another_liberal

(8,821 posts)
7. Calling all lackeys! Calling all lackeys!
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 02:22 PM
Feb 2014

The really funny part of this is that such efforts to stifle free speech among academics will only make the calls for a boycott against Israel louder. The time for neo-apartheid and land-stealing without consequences is long past. Better get on the right side of history quick.

 

dbackjon

(6,578 posts)
9. How about the evil in Russia, Nigeria, Uganda, Alabama?
Fri Feb 7, 2014, 04:38 PM
Feb 2014

How about cutting off funding to bigot factories like Liberty Univ?

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