Welcome to 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
The Latest
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Fast Forward New York Assembly Tweaking Bill on Israel Boycott
The New York Assembly is modifying a bill that would bar state funds from being used for groups that boycott Israeli universities. A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who sponsored the bill, told The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog on Wednesday that the bill was being altered to make clear that it did not…
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Opinion Academic Freedom — Not Boycotts — Should Be Focus of Israel Academia Debate
The uproar in the Jewish community over the American Studies Association’s vote to boycott Israeli universities has largely overlooked one point: Are we, who oppose these sorts of boycotts, truly committed to academic freedom for people of all views on the Israel-Palestine conflict? Of course there are reasons, aside from academic freedom, to oppose the…
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Fast Forward Roger Waters Attacks Scarlett Johansson, Neil Young Over Israel Support
Roger Waters assailed actress Scarlett Johansson and musician Neil Young on his Facebook page for their support of Israel. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Waters – who has publicly called for boycotts against Israel and has made personal pleas to artists not to perform in Israel – said that he has written privately to…
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Fast Forward Norway Divests From Firms in East Jerusalem
Norway’s government instructed a state-run pension fund not to invest in two Israeli firms because of their activity in eastern Jerusalem. The decision regarding the Government Pension Fund Global, or GPFG, appeared Thursday on the website of Norway’s finance ministry. It named the two Israeli construction firms, Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, as well…
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Life ScarJo’s Other SodaStream Problem: The Sexist Ad
No matter where you stand on Israeli politics, it’s hard not to see Scarlett Johansson’s decision to become a spokesperson for SodaStream as a bold choice. Unfortunately, this boldness didn’t make its way into the commercial itself. Instead, the ad relies on the most cliche, ickily retro advertising tropes imaginable. If you are reading this…
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The Schmooze Scarlett Johansson’s (Uncensored) SodaStream Super Bowl Ad
(JTA) — Scarlett Johansson’s decision to act as spokesperson for the Israeli firm SodaStream has been controversial from the get-go. Forget the debate over whether or not it’s okay to represent a company with a factory in the West Bank, or whether or not Oxfam should ditch her, though. That’s all just fluff. The real…
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Fast Forward N.Y. State Bill Would End Funding to Schools With BDS Ties
A bill introduced in the New York State Assembly would suspend funding to educational institutions which fund groups that boycott Israel. The legislation, introduced earlier this month by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and first reported by Mondoweiss, an anti-Zionist news site, would ban state funding to colleges which fund groups that boycott “in countries that…
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Fast Forward 134 Congress Members Blast ASA for Boycotting Israeli Universities
A bipartisan slate of 134 U.S. Congress members wrote a letter to the American Studies Association protesting its decision last month to boycott Israeli universities. “Academic cooperation can be an important tool to help foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but you have chosen the unproductive path of isolation,” said the letter dated Friday, initiated…
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