Virginia lawmakers voted to adopt the distorted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism into Virginia law. HB 1606 adopts IHRA, including its contemporary examples related to Israel, as a tool and guide for recognizing and combating antisemitic discrimination and hate crimes in Virginia.
Read MoreIn February the Harvard Law Review published a compelling note refuting legal claims that boycotts for Palestinian rights are discriminatory. In case you missed it, here are 10 key points from that note.
Read MoreHouse Resolution 246 condemning the boycott movement for Palestinian rights could be moving forward in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. While some Democratic cosponsors might believe that passing this non-binding resolution will lessen pressure to consider more binding measures (such as the House version of the anti-boycott bill passed by the Senate in February, Republican efforts to slip anti-boycott language into broad and often unrelated pieces of legislation underscore that the resolution will only open the door for more attacks against advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Read MoreThe bill would impose a widely-criticized re-definition of antisemitism that classifies virtually all speech critical of Israel as antisemitic.
Read MoreThe fact that 25 states now have legislation targeting advocacy for Palestinian rights indicates the level to which private anti-Palestinian forces are influencing our public institutions to intimidate and punish advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Read MoreAn anti-boycott bill opposed by the Massachusetts "Freedom to Boycott" coalition was defeated today after a Massachusetts legislative committee refused to advance it.
Read MoreToday, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit arguing that an Arizona anti-boycott law violates the First Amendment. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Mikkel Jordhal, a lawyer whose solely-owned law firm contracts with the state to represent indigent inmates. In order to contract with the state, Jordhal was required to certify that his law firm did not participate in boycotts of Israel.
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