The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to strip federal funding from universities that participate in boycotts of Israel.The measure passed 237 to 169 with 33 Democrats supporting the bill. Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian American, blasted the legislation.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “This bill is an attack on free speech and academic freedom, all in the name of defending a genocidal apartheid state. While the Trump administration is stripping universities of their funding, deporting international students and pressing universities to shut down their Black and African American studies departments, Congress is voting today to force universities to pledge their loyalty. To what? To a foreign government. That’s right: Support Israel’s government’s — right now — war crimes, or lose federal student aid.”