Boycott Israel? US Congress threatens universities with financial sanctions

In the United States, criticizing Israel remains tolerated. Boycotting it, on the other hand, could now cost you your funding. The House of Representatives has just adopted, by 237 votes to 169, a text threatening to deprive of federal funding certain universities which participate in a commercial boycott of Israel. The message addressed to American campuses is of rare political violence: touch Israel economically, and Washington can touch your wallet.

It does not matter whether the boycott is claimed as a means of pressure against the occupation, colonization or the genocide carried out in Gaza: Congress wants to present universities with a brutal choice — renounce the boycott of Israel or risk financial asphyxiation.

And this lockdown does not come only from the Republicans. 33 elected Democrats voted with the majority. In the name of the fight against anti-Semitism, part of the American Congress is pushing ever further the political protection of Israel, at the risk of making this state a real exception in the American public debate.

Because the question becomes impossible to avoid: why should Israel benefit from legislative protection against a form of political protest applied to so many other states, companies or institutions? Opponents of the text are already denouncing an attack on the First Amendment and freedom of expression.

The text must still pass the Senate. But the signal sent is already staggering: in the United States, a university could be financially sanctioned simply because it chooses to boycott Israel. By wanting to protect Israel from all pressure, Washington ends up transforming its support into political privilege. And tomorrow, the question may no longer be: do we have the right to boycott Israel? But: how much will you have to pay for daring to do it?