A group of Republican New York State Senators have introduced five bills aimed at silencing any criticism of Israel in the state.
Critics of the bills say they would completely ban freedom of speech and introduce a state-sponsored religion based on being pro-Israel. None of the five seem to conform to the First Amendment.
- S.3275 (Griffo): This is a de facto ban on criticism of Israel or the Jewish people for any “real or imagined” offense by threatening the critic with criminal prosecution for the actions of an unrelated third party. It states that if someone else commits a crime against a Jewish person, you can be charged with a crime for something you wrote or said. This mirrors the extreme bill that Sheila Jackson Lee introduced in Congress last year that criminalizes criticism against immigration or “any non-White person.” Twelve sponsors.
- S.7752 (Weber): College students would be banned from New York’s tuition assistance program [TAP] if they are critical of Jews or Israel. Ten sponsors.
- S.7773 (Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick): All students, staff, and faculty at CUNY and SUNY must receive mandatory pro-Israel “sensitivity training.” Seventeen sponsors.
- S.8625 (Martins): This bill makes it a class A misdemeanor to remove pro-Israel street flyers. Nine sponsors.
- S.8774 (Oberacker): Displaying symbols “associated with or derived from” Nazi Germany is aggravated harassment in the first degree if it causes someone to feel “annoyed.” Six sponsors.
I think some of those bills could survive court challenge and do more good, if they were more general. For instance I’d prefer if you support a terror group, no tuition assistance.