This is the Forward’s coverage of BDS – the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to pressure Israel to change its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
BDS
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News Anti-BDS Laws Hit Unintended Targets — Sparking Free Speech Debate
On May 2, Israel’s Independence Day, Texas state Rep. Phil King stood smiling as Gov. Greg Abbott signed King’s bill banning the state from doing business with boycotters of Israel. “Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally,” Abbott said of the bill that overwhelmingly passed the…
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Fast Forward Texas Lawmaker Backpedals From Anti-BDS Hurricane Aid Snafu
(JTA) — A Texas state representative blamed “confusion” for a Houston suburb’s decisio to demand its residents certify to receive hurricane relief. Republican State Rep. Phil King authored state legislation against BDS, or boycotts of Israel, earlier this year. The legislation went into effect last month. “This bill in no way applies to the type…
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News Texas Law Requires Hurricane Victims To Not Boycott Israel In Order To Get Aid
Cleanup after Hurricane Harvey is moving at a slow pace in Texas’ Gulf Coast region and in the Houston area. As of early this month, over 60,000 people were still living in hotels, and on Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into companies that “may be over-promising but under-delivering” in removing hurricane…
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News This Math Teacher From Kansas Has Sparked A Huge Legal Feud Over BDS
All Esther Koontz wanted to do was train fellow Kansas math teachers to be more effective in the classroom. Everything was set: She had completed the special training program. She had signed up to help schools in need of assistance. She’d even gotten requests from several schools via the state Department of Education and had…
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Fast Forward ACLU Sues Kansas Over Law Targeting Israel Boycotters
(JTA) — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Kansas law banning state business with companies that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. The ACLU said Wednesday it was representing public school math teacher Esther Koontz, who was denied a state contract because she participates in the anti-Israel boycott….
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Fast Forward Dem Nominee For N.J. Governor Breaks With Running Mate On Israel Boycott Bill
The Democratic nominee for governor of New Jersey announced that he supports a new law barring the state pension fund from investing in companies that boycott Israel—placing him on the opposite side of the issue as his running mate. Phil Murphy, a financier and former U.S. ambassador to Germany who won the party’s nomination in…
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Community Why I Refuse To Go On Birthright — And You Should, Too.
Earlier this month, registration for Birthright Israel’s winter programs opened, inviting thousands of Jewish young people to accept a gift that seems too good to be true: a completely free trip to Israel. Many of these young people will be excited to experience firsthand the country that they have been taught to consider their own…
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Fast Forward British University Censors Holocaust Survivor’s Talk Comparing Israel To Nazis
(JTA) — A Holocaust survivor’s speech that compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to Nazis treatment of Jews was censored by a British university. Manchester University censored the title of a talk in March by Holocaust survivor Marika Sherwood, The Guardian reported on Friday. The original talk was titled: “A Holocaust survivor’s story and the…
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Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
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Culture An Israeli genocide scholar looks to Israel’s history to understand ‘what went wrong’
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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
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Fast Forward Alleging conflicts, California judge boots Jewish DA from trying Stanford pro-Palestinian protesters
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Fast Forward Israel bars YouTuber Tyler Oliveira from entering country, citing ‘harassment of Jews’ on social media
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News Hochul makes play for Orthodox voters with tuition relief and synagogue buffer zones
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News Middlebury College Hillel votes to rebrand, distancing from parent group on Israel