Monday, 12:30pm Jeffrey Robbins will address students at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis on Human Rights Law, Fashion, and the Middle East. Robbins is an attorney at Mintz Levin in which he specializes in complex civil litigation, including litigation involving allegations of fraud, First Amendment issues, and claims of defamation. He also served as deputy chief counsel for the minority of the US Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Special Investigation into campaign fundraising practices, as chief counsel for the minority of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and as an assistant US attorney in the District of Massachusetts.
2016 has state legislatures taking a firm stand against the Boycotts, Disinvestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This summer alone, the Brandeis Center reported that California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York all enacted various laws establishing themselves against this invidious form of discrimination. Now, less than a month after California Governor Jerry Brown signed his state’s anti-BDS legislation, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf will have the opportunity to do the same. Pennsylvania Bill HB 2107 which states that “Israel is America’s dependable, democratic ally in the Middle East, an area of paramount strategic importance to the United States” commercial activities and to discourage policies that disregard that interest” passed the Pennsylvania State Senate this past week 47-1 after passing unanimously in the House The bill, when signed into law will ensure that companies contracted by Pennsylvania would be barred from becoming involved in any form of boycott — defined as efforts “to blacklist, divest from or otherwise refuse to deal with a person or firm when the action is based on race, color, religion, gender or national affiliation or origin of the targeted person or entity” – specifically in relation to Israeli companies or individuals.
University of Chicago Law School On Wednesday, November 2, Professor Abraham Bell will address the LDB chapter at University of Chicago on the topic of “International Law, Lawfare, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” Professor Bell teaches at the University of San Diego School of Law Bar Ilan University, and teaches and writes in the areas of property, copyright, international law, and economic analysis of law. Prof. Bell clerked for Justice Mishael Cheshin of the Supreme Court of Israel and for the High Court of Justice Department within the Israeli State Attorney’s office, and he is a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces. A highly sought-after expert on international law and the Arab-Israeli conflict, he has advised officials on four continents. His published articles on the subject include Palestine, Uti Possidetis Juris and the Borders of Israel (with Eugene Kontorovich); A Critique of the Goldstone Report and its Treatment of International Humanitarian Law; and The Mythical Post-2005 Israeli Occupation of the Gaza Strip (with Dov Shefi).