Doylestown Area Rep. Santarsiero: No Funding To State Colleges Against Israel

Pennsylvania State Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks), based out of Newtown, sought support in Congress Wednesday for a bill that would cut funding to state universities that don’t support Israel, he said at a news conference in Harrisburg.

Santarsiero’s House Bill 1818, “Stand with Israel,” would seek to strip state funding for campuses that actively support boycotting Israel for political reasons.

“Unfortunately, there is a growing – and alarming – trend on some college and university campuses to launch politically motivated attacks with the intent of pressuring these institutions to engage in boycotts against or divestment from Israel,” said Santarsiero, D-Bucks, in a press release. “The state of Israel is the only dependable, democratic ally of the United States in the Middle East. As such, it is in the interest of this commonwealth to promote America’s close ties with Israel.”

Boycott, divest, and sanction (BSD) is a popular movement among Palestinian opponents of Israel who seek to end what they consider an illegal occupation of the West Bank, a land both sides claim as their own.

On the international level, it involves economic pressure placed directly on Israel, similar to the sanctions which the United States places on countries like Russia and Iran to discourage certain activities.

Domestically, campus boycotts most likely wouldn’t amount to more than symbolic action, although Israeli supporters say that it encourages a biased public opinion.

Many organizations have called such boycotts Anti-Semitic, including AMCHA, an organization for Jewish students.

Santarsiero said that he doesn’t believe the bill violates free speech.

“It merely creates consequences should schools succumb to political pressure to harm Israel,” he said in the press release.

Representatives from the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia were with Santarsiero during the news conference.