IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
New Jersey became the latest state to pass legislation against the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement yesterday. By a 69-3 vote, the State Assembly passed a bill to prohibit pension fund investment in pro-boycott companies. The legislation had passed the State Senate in May by a 39-0 vote.
on June 28, 2016
The New Jersey state legislature is expected to pass legislation on Monday that will prevent the state from investing in companies that participate in the "boycott, divestment, and sanctions" movement against Israel, joining a growing number of states that already have similar regulations in place.
on June 27, 2016
overnors have significant authority in issuing executive orders, and in many situations, they do so to circumvent legislative roadblocks. But executive orders cannot wish away the Constitution. This, however, is precisely what New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo tried to do when he signed Executive Order 157 on June 5.
on June 23, 2016
Last week Viet Thanh Nguyen, a professional associate of mine, became the fourth winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), joining Alice Walker, Richard Ford, and Junot Diaz. Besides the Pulitzer, his novel, “The Sympathizer,” won several other prestigious awards and made it to over 30 book-of-the-year lists, including The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
on June 22, 2016
Believe it or not, New Jersey politicians are trying to rush through legislation that would prohibit our pension fund from being invested in any business put on their industry "blacklist. "You read that right: Blacklist. This time, though, it's not about rooting out the seditious pinko commies. It's about rooting out the anti-Israel thought offenders, and punishing them. See how different?
on June 10, 2016
The American Anthropological Association resolution pledging to honor the academic boycott of Israel just lost a membership vote by 2,423 to 2,384. The closeness of the tally illustrates how acutely the issue divides scholars inside and beyond the United States. It is also clear that academic boycott, and the broader boycott, divestment, and sanctions, or BDS, movement, is now established on campuses.
on June 8, 2016
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order on Sunday that “unequivocally rejects the BDS campaign and stands firmly with Israel,” effectively alienating many Palestinian New Yorkers and Palestinian-Americans. Cuomo made his official announcement, which has since been widely criticized as unconstitutional, during a meeting held immediately before the governor and his staff marched in New York City’s annual Celebrate Israel parade.
on June 7, 2016
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a pro-Israel executive order on Sunday that will punish people and groups who support a boycott of Israel on behalf of Palestinian human rights. Legal experts have described this long pending anti-boycott policy as “21st-century McCarthyism,” warning it would effectively create a discriminatory “blacklist” of Palestinian human rights advocates who endorse boycotts like those organized in order to combat U.S.-backed apartheid in South Africa.
on June 5, 2016
United Methodists who want their church to sanction Israel are regrouping after a committee at their denomination’s General Conference rejected four divestment or investment screening resolutions over the weekend. Those resolutions “pretty much went down in flames,” said John Lomperis, the director of the Institute on Religion and Democracy’s United Methodist Action Program and an opponent of divestment.
on May 16, 2016