US legislators propose law to punish academic boycotts of Israel

Two members of the US Congress have introduced a bill to deprive American educational institutions of federal funding if they implement an academic boycott of Israel.

According to Israel’s Maariv newspaper, the bill has been drafted by Republican Peter Roskam and Dan Lipinski of the Democratic Party, both from the state of Illinois. The draft stipulates that “every academic institution to boycott Israel will lose federal funding.”

Maariv said that the bill does not prohibit anyone from boycotting Israel on the basis of freedom of expression, but stipulates that institutions which do so will be deprived of privileges they receive from the federal government.

Although still in its early stages with the Congress Cultural Committee, the bill has already been signed by 134 members. In order for it to pass into law, it has to be signed by 435 legislators.