Hill nerd here again. Remember the bill a while back, to let the Exec target non-profit status using allegations of support for terror, with no real recourse (dead for now)?
Now there’s an effort to apply this approach to target US citizens' passports, & it's moving fast! 1/
On 9/17/25 (this coming Weds) the House Foreign Affairs Committee will mark-up a set of bills (text just dropped) regarding the State Dept, including HR 5300, the "Department of State Policy Provisions Act" 2/
See Sec 226: “No passports for terrorists & traffickers” - to allow passport denial/revocation for anyone charged (not convicted) with supporting an FTO, or who SecState "determines" has "knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an FTO.“ 3/
Love it or hate it - on Monday the House will vote on HR 1867, “The IGO Boycott Act”, the current iteration of the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” - to impose harsh penalties, incl fines/jail on Americans who, in line with their values/political views, boycott Israel or settlements. 1/
As covered in the 2/27/25 edition of the Round-Up:
“HR 1867, like its predecessors, seeks to amend/expand current US anti-boycott law. That law is based on the idea of preventing US citizens from being **compelled or coerced** into boycotting Israel… 2/
“…as a condition for doing business abroad under the Arab League Boycott of Israel (which included coercive secondary sanctions).” 3/
The fact that backers of the Antisemitism Awareness Act were caught flat-footed by today’s Senate hearing, where there was strong opposition from BOTH sides of aisle to legislating criticism of Israel=antisemitism, shows what happens when you fall for your own false framing. 1/
The false framing here is that the AAA is opposed only by far-left Democrats who allegedly want to enable antisemitism (to be vilified & mocked) & far-right GOP-ers worried they won’t be allowed to say the Jews killed Christ (to be mollified with a chair’s amdt to the bill) 2/
In reality mainstream GOP-ers & Libertarians have long expressed STRONG opposition to the AAA, both on grounds that it violates the 1st Amdt & that it is a form of stealth DEI. They came out in force last year, after House passage of the AAA (receipts at end of this thread). 3/
ICYMI, next week the Senate HELP Committee will be voting on (& for sure passing) 2 bills intended to enable - indeed, to require - the wholesale suppression & punishment of campus free speech/protest critical of Israel, Israeli policies/actions, & Zionism.
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1st - the return of the Antisemitism Awareness Act (S 558). Love it or hate it, this bill seeks to enact/enforc the IHRA definition & its examples into Title VI, in order to define criticism/protest of Israel as antisemitism (& once IHRA is law here, apply it elsewhere).
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2nd - the Protecting Students on Campus Act (S 163). Love it or hate it, this bill is explicitly about facilitating students complaints re: alleged antisemitism on campus. Coupled with S 558, this bill enables the wholesale suppression/punishment of criticism of Israel.
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Over the past 2 yrs, and especially these days, I’ve been thinking a lot about the unquestioned assumptions that define the worldview of many Jewish Americans when it comes to the ideas of safety and vulnerability — a 🧵 (excerpted from a recent essay I wrote, link at the end).