Draft Israeli law to limit academic speech labelled 'McCarthyite'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/21/draft-israeli-law-to-limit-academic-speech-labelled-mccarthyite

Draft Israeli law to limit academic speech labelled ‘McCarthyite’

Law allowing committee to fire staff for ‘supporting terror’ backed by education minister and national student union

Emma Graham-Harrison and Matan Cohen
Sun 21 Jul 2024 09.56 EDT

Israel’s education minister and the country’s national union of students are backing a draft law to limit academic speech in the country, which the heads of leading universities have attacked as “McCarthyite” and fundamentally undemocratic.

The legislation, currently being debated in the Knesset, would give a government-appointed committee the power to order the firing of academic staff that it decides have expressed “support for terror”. If the universities refuse, their funding would be cut.
Critics say the legislation is fundamentally undemocratic and would undermine Israeli academia, because it restricts free speech and allows politicians to weaponise accusations that should be handled by the legal system.

The president of the prestigious Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, known for links to the country’s hi-tech and defence industries, said the law was “McCarthyite”.

“It is a form of McCarthyism, a very violent form, because it is meant to threaten people not to express their mind, in a system that should be free of any intimidation, encouraging free speech, encouraging criticism,” Uri Sivan said.

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