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The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a Republican-led bill that aims to penalise universities that engage in boycotts of Israel or attempt to prevent students from participating in exchange programmes in Israel.
The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act passed by 237 to 169 votes.
The act would solely apply to universities that are part of federal student aid programmes. Further, it instructs institutions receiving federal funding for international study and foreign language programmes to verify annually that they do not restrict students participating in programmes in Israel or students from Israel participating in programmes on their campus.
Thirty-three Democrats, most of whom are up for re-election and have a history of supporting Israel, went against their party to vote for the bill. Two Republicans opposed. The fate of the bill now depends on a Senate decision.
The presentation of the bill by House Republican leaders is seen by some as an attempt to exploit divisions among Democrats ahead of the midterm elections, where voters will decide who controls Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump’s term.
“Our universities should not use taxpayer-funded federal programs to discriminate against Israeli students, faculty, institutions, or businesses simply because they are Israeli,” Tim Walberg, the Republican chair of the House education committee, said on the House floor.
Pro-Palestinian activists deny that protests at US campuses are antisemitic in nature and maintain that critics intentionally conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism to shut down dissent.
Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx described anti-war protests on university campuses as antisemitic.
“The antisemitic rot that has corroded college campuses must be eradicated,” Foxx said.
“Today, the House sent a clear message: if an institution of higher education chooses to capitulate to the caustic BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement, there will be consequences – starting with this bipartisan legislation.
The war in Gaza has destroyed most of the Palestinian enclave since Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people during an attack on 7 October 2023. Israeli attacks since then have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
In the wake of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, student and faculty groups at several prominent universities have strengthened the call for administrators to engage in the BDS movement.
At most universities, the call either remains unanswered or is firmly rejected.
Bobby Scott, the senior Democrat on the education committee, criticised the bill as inessential and potentially interfering with the First Amendment’s protections of protest.
“No college or university has embraced the BDS movement anyway. So, we should combat antisemitism wherever it occurs, but we should not do so by punishing protected speech or conflating a student’s view with university policies,” said Scott on the House floor.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said before the vote that he opposed the BDS movement but would vote no because he supported Americans’ right to free expression.
“It is the only way to ensure speech I do agree with is equally protected,” Nadler said.
The bill’s proponents argue that their aim is not to police speech on campus but rather to counter discrimination.
The divisions and contradictions in the Democratic Party’s stance on Israel have surfaced in recent months. In July, more than 100 House Democrats endorsed a bill scrapping some military aid to Israel. Source MEE.
