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Tuesday, August 1, 2017  
 

In this Issue:

• News, Views and Analysis

• Amidst concerns, Israel Anti-Boycott Act is constitutional

• SlutWalk Chicago reneges ban on "Zionist displays"

 

JUF Link presents news and analysis concerning the delegitimization and demonization of Israel and the Jewish people through BDS, anti-normalization and related activities.

Exposing the linkages between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, JUF Link 
shows JUF/Federation and its partners' impact in defeating anti-Israel and anti-Jewish forces.
 
 

JUF's Israel Education Center has launched the Lexicon, an encyclopedia of Israel-related terminology commonly used on campus and in the community.
Check it out here.
 

News, Views and Analysis

Fordham University overturned its own student government's decision to approve a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Students are now suing the school over the decision

The Chicago Coaliton for Justice in Palestine held anti-Israel rallies downtown on July 21 and July 28, claiming Al-Aqsa was "under attack"

North Carolina became the 22nd state with laws or executive orders banning state business with companies that boycott Israel when Governor Roy Cooper signed its anti-BDS bill into law Monday

A rabbi shares his experience with progressive activists policing Jewish participation in social justice movements

Amidst post-Dyke March and pre-SlutWalk tensions, a niche Birthright Israel trip offers LGBTQ Jews a unique opportunity for self-discovery in the Jewish homeland 

Daily Wire editor Ben Shapiro and Anti-Defamation League Commissioner and former Brandeis University president Frederick Lawrence addressed a joint congressional hearing about free speech on campus

Anti-Israel professor Steven Salaita is leaving academia. In 2014, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign trustees blocked his appointment of Salaita to a tenured position for anti-Semitic tweets

Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, including at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, praised "resistance" and "the intifada" on social media amid Temple Mount tensions 

The ADL has released a report criticizing Jewish Voice for Peace for its radical positions, support of BDS and anti-Israel activism 

Five members of an interfaith delegation to Israel were prevented from boarding a flight to Israel because of their support for the BDS movement

Amidst concerns, Israel Anti-Boycott Act is constitutional

Capitol Building

The bipartisan Israel Anti-Boycott Act has been making headlines since the ACLU sent a letter to U.S. Senators urging them to oppose the bill last week, arguing it would "impose civil and criminal punishment on individuals solely because of their political beliefs about Israel and its policies."

Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), the bill's sponsor, debunks this claim: "Individuals who 'actively avoid purchasing goods and services' because of their own political viewpoint would not be subject to the bill. Similarly, the bill does not regulate civil society organizations who are critical of Israeli policies or prevent them from speaking in favor of BDS."

The Export Administration Act of 1979 (EAA) prohibits U.S. companies from complying with boycotts imposed by foreign countries. The Israel Anti-Boycott Act would expand the EAA to include boycotts organized by international governmental organizations. 

Northwestern law professor Eugene Kontorovich offered his analysis in The Washington Post: "The legislation does nothing to restrict anti-Israel expressions or even local 'BDS' activity. The real question is why the ACLU is now attacking the basic constitutional understandings that underpin decades of American foreign policy and civil rights regulation - but confining its new First Amendment standard to laws relating to Israel."

Read the full story here »

SlutWalk Chicago reneges ban on "Zionist displays"

SlutWalk Chicago, an annual march protesting sexual violence, slut-shaming and victim-blaming, released a statement on Monday reneging its previous ban on the Star of David and "Zionist symbols."

"Let us be clear: the Star of David is welcome at our event, just as all symbols of faith and heritage are welcome," the statement said. "We are as firmly against anti-Semitism as we are against Islamophobia."

SlutWalk also apologized for blocking Jewish activists on Twitter, as well as previous tweets claiming the Star of David was inherently a Zionist symbol. 

SlutWalk Chicago's announcement to ban Zionism from its Aug. 12 march came on Twitter after voicing support for Chicago Dyke March, which made national headlines last month when Dyke March organizers ejected Jewish participants.

Like the Chicago Dyke March, SlutWalk Chicago is an intersectional movement. However, as Mark Joseph Stern points out in Slate, the inclusion and unity promised by intersectionality often excludes Jews.

Read the full story here »

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