{"id":277102,"date":"2026-09-03T19:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/277102\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T19:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:29:26","slug":"advocates-decry-us-house-vote-to-defund-universities-that-boycott-israel-education-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/277102\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates decry US House vote to defund universities that boycott Israel | Education News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States House of Representatives has passed a bill to penalise American universities for boycotting Israel or its academic institutions, including those located in the occupied West Bank<\/a>, a move that critics say violates freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers approved the measure in a 237-169 vote on Thursday, with 33 Democrats joining the Republican majority. Two Republicans broke ranks with their party to reject the bill.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

The proposal will still needs to be adopted by the Republican-controlled Senate and signed by President Donald Trump<\/a> to become law.<\/p>\n

If passed, it would bar universities that boycott \u201can entity licensed or regulated by, or organised under the laws of\u201d Israel, such as those in illegal West Bank settlements, from receiving federal funds.<\/p>\n

Withholding such funding would make it nearly impossible for many universities to operate or provide financial aid to students.<\/p>\n

Jenin Younes, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said the bill raises serious concerns for the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court has made clear that the government cannot condition its funding on suppression of First Amendment-protected activity,\u201d Younes told Al Jazeera. \u201cCourts also recognise that boycotts constitute such activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislation would require academic institutions in the US to annually certify that they allow cooperation with Israeli universities. The stipulation raises concerns that the bill not only bans boycotts of schools in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank but could compel US universities to forge relationships with them to fulfil the certification requirement.<\/p>\n

The International Court of Justice ruled in 2024<\/a> that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, \u201chave been established and are being maintained in violation of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n

The bill comes at a time when public support for Israel in the US has nosedived<\/a>. A Pew Research Center survey in July suggested that 62 percent of Americans have an unfavourable view of the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

Still, support for the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which carried out the genocidal war on Gaza, remains strong on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of the bill reflects the Israel lobby\u2019s growing desperation in the face of rising opposition to US support for Israel,\u201d Younes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Americans\u2019 sentiment turns against our unholy alliance, Israel and its servants in Congress are working overtime to come up with ways to silence dissent and keep Americans\u2019 tax dollars flowing to the genocidal, apartheid state.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that including Israeli colleges in the occupied West Bank in the anti-boycott bill is further evidence there is no real intent by the US \u201cto hold Israel accountable for its unlawful occupation or to pave the way for a Palestinian state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Restrictions on BDS<\/p>\n

For years, US states and Congress have been passing bills to restrict the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions<\/a> (BDS) movement that aims to pressure Israel economically to end abuses against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been among rights groups who have regularly warned that anti-BDS laws violate constitutional free speech guarantees.<\/p>\n

Robert McCaw, CAIR\u2019s government affairs director, called the legislative proposal \u201ca blatant attempt to hold American students\u2019 financial futures hostage in order to shield the Israeli government and entities operating under Israeli law from peaceful economic pressure\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents and faculty have the right to speak, organise and urge their institutions to align investment and purchasing decisions with their values,\u201d McCaw said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress should not threaten Pell Grants and student loans simply because lawmakers dislike the outcome of that advocacy,\u201d he said, referring to a federally funded financial aid programme.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the bill have argued that the measure aims to regulate commercial conduct, not speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur universities should not use taxpayer-funded federal programs to discriminate against Israeli students, faculty, institutions, or businesses simply because they are Israeli,\u201d Representative Tim Walberg, the Republican chair of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of my colleagues for standing up for that principle today and I hope to see the Senate do the same,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some rights advocates have called for academic boycotts of Israel, saying Israeli universities play a role in enabling abuses against Palestinians by developing weapon systems and military strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, Israeli universities have played a key role in planning, implementing and justifying Israel\u2019s occupation and apartheid policies, and now genocide, while maintaining a uniquely close relationship with the Israeli military,\u201d the BDS movement website says.<\/p>\n

The two Republicans who voted against the bill on Tuesday were Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson, who have both been critical of Washington\u2019s policy towards the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The 33 Democrats who approved the measure included staunchly pro-Israel legislators Ritchie Torres and Haley Stevens, who recently lost her bid for the US Senate Democratic Party nomination in Michigan to Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>, a supporter of Palestinian rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States House of Representatives has passed a bill to penalise American universities for boycotting Israel or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[23637,44969,948,37,497,42,509,51,57],"class_list":["post-277102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-boycott","tag-divestment","tag-education","tag-israel","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-news","tag-sanctions","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117208769051338982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}