Anti-Semitism Awareness Bill Passes Senate

[Little Tich]

4. Free Speech Advocates Warn that Anti-Semitism Bill Could Make Activism a Civil Rights Violation

Source: Forward, 5 December 2016 (?)

After pro-Palestinian student activists set up mock West Bank checkpoints on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in 2012, Jewish groups filed a civil rights complaint with the federal government.

Jewish organizations charged that the mock checkpoints, meant as a protest against the Israeli government, combined with other incidents to create a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The federal Department of Education dismissed the complaint, saying that the protest was an instance of free expression.

Now, a new bill speeding through Congress could change the way the Department of Education reviews such complaints. If it succeeds, critics say, the federal government could determine that protests like the mock checkpoint constitutes civil rights violations.

The bill “opens the door to considering anti-Israel political statements and activities as possible grounds for civil rights investigations,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, chief of staff of the American Civil Liberties Union’s legislative office in Washington. “Whether you agree with the BDS movement or not, aligning oneself with it and even participating in the effort should not subject someone to a civil rights investigation.”

Read more: http://forward.com/news/355903/free-speech-advocates-warn-that-campus-anti-semitism-bill-could-make-palest/