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<\/a><\/p>\nA small group of pro-Israel demonstrators and counter protestors gather in front of Columbia University on August 27, 2024, to hold an “Unmask Campus Hate” protest at the start of the academic year in New York City. (Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The HR 4795 bill, co-sponsored by North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx and New Jersey Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer, passed in a 237 to 169 vote, with 203 Republicans, 33 Democrats and one Independent in favor. Whether Democrats will grant sufficient support to pass the legislation in the Senate remains unclear. <\/p>\n
If the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act goes on to become law, it would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require universities to refrain from \u201cparticipating in a nonexpressive commercial boycott of Israel\u201d in order to remain qualified for certain funds. <\/p>\n
Expressive conduct is \u201csymbolic speech\u201d designed to relay a message, like picketing, marching, flag desecration and draft-card burnings. A 2022 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling deemed economic boycotts nonexpressive commercial conduct as opposed to independent expression. <\/p>\n
In addition to forbidding boycotts, the legislation also stipulates that institutions receiving such funds would need to \u201ccertify that students are not unreasonably obstructed from participating in academic programs in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill is an important step forward in ensuring academic freedom for all students,\u201d Gottheimer, who is Jewish, said in a statement. \u201cI will push the Senate to take up the bill shortly so it can become law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foxx, meanwhile, stressed that the act \u201ctakes a strong stand against the BDS movement on college campuses across the nation,\u201d referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign that aims to put economic pressure on Israel by barring the purchase of Israeli products and suspending trade agreements. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation has true teeth and completely severs any possible taxpayer support of these concrete campaigns of antisemitism in the form of BDS and academic boycotts of Israel,\u201d Foxx added. <\/p>\n
The Anti-Defamation League welcomed the bill\u2019s passage on Thursday, deriding BDS activities as a tool used \u201cto delegitimize Israel and demonize Jews and other students for their connection to the Jewish state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Combat Antisemitism Movement, an interfaith advocacy group that aims to fight \u201cJew hatred,\u201d echoed these sentiments. A Thursday statement from the coalition noted that ahead of the vote, the group had sent a letter to all U.S. House members conveying its support for the bill. <\/p>\n
\u201cAcademic boycotts of Israel harm American students and scholars, weaken vital U.S.-Israel research collaboration, and lend the credibility of American universities to a discriminatory campaign that singles out the only Jewish state,\u201d the letter stated. <\/p>\n
Among the 32 Democrats to join Gottheimer in supporting the bill were many prominent Jewish lawmakers, such as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel and Jared Moskowitz of Florida; Greg Landsman of Ohio; Brad Schneider of Illinois; Eugene Vindman of Virginia and Kim Schrier of Washington. <\/p>\n
Yet not all Jewish legislators, even those who are against BDS, voted in favor of the bill. Ahead of the vote, Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, vowed in a statement that he would vote against the bill and urged his colleagues to do the same. <\/p>\n
While Nadler voiced his antipathy to BDS and acknowledged that proponents of the movement \u201ccan veer into antisemitism,\u201d he stressed that \u201cthose who engage in BDS have a First Amendment right to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street offered similar opposition, arguing that this bill would mean \u201cinfringing on constitutionally protected free speech and academic freedom.\u201d Noting a distinction between Israel proper and the West Bank, J Street stated that \u201cpenalizing universities for expressing their opposition to activities that further annexation sets a dangerous precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nadler, meanwhile, described the measure as both \u201ca direct and gross violation of the First Amendment\u201d and \u201cthe latest assault by the Trump Administration\u201d on the nation\u2019s academic institutions. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how much I may disagree with BDS, and find it strategically stupid and morally repugnant, I will always fight to protect Americans\u2019 right to speech with which I disagree,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is the only way to ensure speech I do agree with is equally protected.\u201d<\/p>\n