US bill would defund academic institutions that boycott Israel
13 replies, posted
[url]http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/house-bill/4009/text[/url]
[quote=Protect Academic Freedom Act]Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an institution of higher education shall not be eligible to receive funds or any other form of financial assistance under this Act if the Secretary determines that such institution is participating in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions or scholars.[/quote]
[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/us-mulls-bill-punishing-israel-boycotters-20142179325139666.html[/url]
[quote]The United States Congress is the latest front in the battle over boycotting Israel.
Two congressmen, Peter Roskam and Dan Lipinski - a Republican and Democrat respectively, both from the state of Illinois - have introduced a bill that would strip American academic institutions of federal funding if they choose to boycott Israel.
The move follows a growing international movement to protest the Israeli occupation and violations of Palestinian human rights. The most recent to join the boycott is the American Studies Association (ASA), a group composed of about 5,000 academics and scholars dedicated to the study of American culture.
The ASA boycott is part of a larger movement called Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which wants to pressure Israel to change its policies in the occupied Palestinian territories by isolating the country. Opponents of BDS say the movement - which calls for Palestinian refugees' right to return - is an attempt to delegitimise Israel and dilute its majority-Jewish population.[/quote]
It will quite possibly die in committee and never be heard of again but dere u go
[quote]Protect Academic Freedom Act[/quote]
What we really need is a "Stop The Propagandic Bullshit Act", to set rules for what you may title a bill, so they don't try to pass everything off as "freedom" and "security" and "fairness" when in reality they mean oppression, restriction, and control.
politics in education suck
[QUOTE=Ezhik;43969519]politics suck[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Protect Academic Freedom Act[/QUOTE]
Holy fuck that is a manipulative name for a bill considering it's pretty much the opposite in reality.
"Who would vote against something called the "Protect Academic Freedom Act" unless they hate freedom?"
I swear one day the US will turn into a police state when something like the "Advancement of Liberty and Freedoms" act is passed.
[quote]is an attempt to delegitimise Israel[/quote]
They're doing it to themselves already, none of this would be happening if the Israelly government wasn't full of assholes.
See this is why in Ireland bills are named for what the law does and the year it was enacted. You stop these bullshit titles so the politicians who have to vote on it have to actually read the thing and you can't have manipulative titles.
[QUOTE=The mouse;43969542]Holy fuck that is a manipulative name for a bill considering it's pretty much the opposite in reality.
"Who would vote against something called the "Protect Academic Freedom Act" unless they hate freedom"
I swear one day the US will turn into a police state when something like the "Advancement of Liberty and Freedoms" act is passed.[/QUOTE]
It's always been like that so it sounds good to the public, it happened with "Don't Ask Don't Tell" which sounds like "Sexual preference is none of anyone's business" but was more like "Sexual preference is none of anyone's business unless we somehow discover you're gay".
[QUOTE]participating in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions or scholars.[/QUOTE]
I'm confused as to how that would work. What would a boycott of those things entail?
[QUOTE=Hidole555;43969634]I'm confused as to how that would work. What would a boycott of those things entail?[/QUOTE]
I'm guessing not funding them or have students not join them?
Well politics has no place in science, it would be wrong to deny a person participation in study/research on the basis of their origin. Perhaps its not such a bad law?
edit: don't get me wrong I think its truly awful what israel is doing but punishing its scholars isn't going to make the situation any better.
Seriously fuck israel.
I have less respect for israel then for north korea.
It's just baffling how Israel can continue to get away with human rights violations and, to be honest, borderline war crimes that other countries get sanctioned and occupied for. We should be chastising and sanctioning them, not diverting billions in taxpayer money for aid.
The lesson to other countries? As long as you were the victim of a well known ethnic cleansing and are buddy buddy with the United States, you can get away with anything, including shitting on the people of the country whose land you occupy, which was basically stolen from the Palestinians. If you can then use said atrocity as a shield against any and all criticism and even get laws passed worldwide that make it literally illegal to criticize you or call into question said atrocity, hey, all the better.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;43969518]What we really need is a "Stop The Propagandic Bullshit Act", to set rules for what you may title a bill, so they don't try to pass everything off as "freedom" and "security" and "fairness" when in reality they mean oppression, restriction, and control.[/QUOTE]
Indeed. Seems to be a common thing really. If you want to pass anything without people properly looking at it you just put something about "protecting muh freedumz" or patriotism in the title.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.