As part of our continuing republication of past articles written by our late cofounder, editorial collective member, and longtime social activist Belden Fields, we chose the article below, from our September 2017 issue, for its clear relevance to the ongoing, indeed escalating attacks on critics of Israel’s current devastating war in Gaza and assaults on Palestinian farms and villages in the West Bank. Under the guise of fighting “antisemitism,” a charge that is marshaled against anyone who speaks out against the horrors that the Netanyahu government is inflicting on the Palestinian people, we see the Trump administration kidnapping international students off the streets of our cities; “shaking down” higher education institutions by seeking to impose a right-wing agenda that threatens academic freedom and institutional autonomy; and finally—as seen in recent statements of Trump allies—suggesting that any citizen who criticizes Israel could be considered traitorous. The original has been lightly edited for style.

This article is about a bill introduced in both the US Senate (S. 720) and House of Representatives (H.R. 1697). These identical bills are both very complex and very dangerous to our civil liberties.

They would outlaw “requests to impose restrictive trade practices or boycotts by any foreign country . . . against a country friendly to the United States or against any US person” (2i). They also outlaw “requests to impose restrictive trade practices or boycotts by any international governmental organization against Israel” (2ii). Note the word “requests.” This means advocacy—i.e., speech. Continue reading →