House votes to strip federal aid from colleges that boycott Israel

Gottheimer said the bill is an important step toward academic freedom for all students.

The ADL said BDS is used to delegitimize Israel and demonize Jews and other students for their connection to the Jewish state.

Nadler said those who engage in BDS have a First Amendment right to do so.

Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York vowed he would vote against the bill and urged colleagues to do the same.

The letter said academic boycotts of Israel harm American students and scholars and weaken U.S.-Israel research collaboration.

J Street said penalizing universities for opposing activities that further annexation sets a dangerous precedent.

Lara Friedman said the goal is that every university cannot refuse cooperation with Israel and must seek every opportunity to cooperate with Israel.

Friedman said universities that do not do that would be treated as pro-BDS and anti-Israel.

Friedman said the bill could open the door for legal action against a school over the certification.

Dylan Williams said there is overwhelming Democratic opposition to undermining American rights to shield Israel from accountability.

Congressional supporters frame the bill as a preventative response to BDS growth on campuses, which they say has contributed to rising antisemitism.

The Democratic committee report called the bill a solution in search of a problem.

Rep. Joe Wilson said campus unrest has resulted from anti-Israel radicals coercing institutions to divest from and boycott Israel.

Wilson claimed boycotts of Israel are antisemitic in design and used to isolate Jewish students and silence Jewish faculty.

Rep. Morgan Griffith said if universities are not doing what the bill prohibits, opponents should have little reason to object.

Griffith said Democrats’ argument is that the bill does nothing.

Gottheimer said the goal of the BDS movement is the destruction of Israel, America’s ally in the fight against terror.

Gottheimer said Jewish students are facing death threats, assaults, and being blocked from class, and that they must be able to learn safely.

Scott Wiener told CNN that people in the crowd made references to his Israeli handlers while berating him.

Foxx said BDS policies at colleges created hostile environments by marginalizing Jewish students.

Foxx said it was the government's duty to protect the equal rights of those students living in a hostile environment at schools with anti-Israel policies.

Foxx said they are discriminating against people of the Jewish faith.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib said Jewish students were often leading BDS movements on college campuses.

Nadler objected to the bill treating the entire West Bank as part of Israel.

Nadler said the United States and Congress must recognize the difference between Israel and territory it occupies beyond the Green Line.

Nadler said penalizing colleges for opposing annexation would undermine a two-state solution and set a troubling precedent.

Gottheimer said the measure was designed to protect First Amendment rights.

Kenneth Marcus said American colleges should not participate in discriminatory boycotts targeting Israel or any other American ally.

Congressional leaders have said they want to curb campus antisemitism after pro-Palestinian protests over the Gaza war that followed Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Rep. Bobby Scott said the legislation is unnecessary and could violate the First Amendment.

Tlaib said the Trump administration is stripping university funding, deporting international students, and pressing schools to shut down Black studies departments.