These unconstitutional proposed bills are going nowhere.
Dima Khalidi, the*Director of Palestine Solidarity Legal Support and Cooperating Counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights, had a similar message in a statement e-mailed to us. *”This bill, like those proposed in the New York and Maryland state legislatures, is an outrageous assault on free speech…The bill violates the*Constitution*by denying funding to a university if any groups or individuals at that institution advocate for the academic boycott of Israel,” Khalidi said. *”It singles out and punishes only those boycotts that advocate for Palestinian rights. The First Amendment is clear: the government may not forbid controversial speech by students and academics based on its content or viewpoint.”
Similar efforts to defund institutions that receive government funding have been struck down as unconstitutional. *For instance, in 1999,*New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani pulled funding*from a city museum that displayed a portrait of the Virgin Mary sullied by elephant excrement. *A federal judge ruled that GiulianiÂ’s move was unconstitutional and threatened the First Amendment.
Congress is next battleground over boycott of Israel | Mondoweiss