Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Senate Passes Bill that Warns Against Syria Withdrawal, Includes Israel Anti-Boycott Provision

posted by martyb on Thursday February 07 2019, @07:33PM   Printer-friendly

takyon writes:

Senate approves Syria, anti-BDS[*] bill

The Senate passed legislation on Thursday breaking with President Trump's Syria policy. Senators voted 77-23 to send the legislation to the House that includes a provision warning Trump against a "precipitous" withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan. It also asks the administration to certify that certain conditions have been met "for the enduring defeat of al Qaeda and ISIS before initiating any significant withdrawal of United States forces from Syria or Afghanistan."

[...] In addition to the Syria amendment, the bill also included sanctions against the Syrian government, increased support for Israel and Jordan and a provision that would let states penalize businesses that take part in boycotts or divestments of Israel.

Both the Syria amendment and the anti-BDS provisions sparked division among Democrats. [...] Democrats had raised First Amendment concerns about the anti-BDS provision, which splintered most of the party's 2020 contenders and caucus leadership. "While I do not support the BDS movement, we must defend every American's constitutional right to engage in political activity. It is clear to me that this bill would violate Americans' First Amendment rights," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement last week.

[*] BDS: boycott, divestment and sanctions.

Also at NYT.

See also: Is the Anti-BDS Bill Constitutional? Yes, But...

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Senate Passes Bill that Warns Against Syria Withdrawal, Includes Israel Anti-Boycott Provision | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 132 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @09:08PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @09:08PM (#797970)

    We can throw gender angst in here as well.

    Forgot to back this up with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Thomas [wikipedia.org]
    also here http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html [gnosis.org]

    [Saying probably added to the original collection at a later date:]

    114. Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."

    Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."

    It's a bit jumbled, but we have to remember who this remark was likely directed at: Yahweh's Red Dresses, the scribes and pharisees, the very people responsible for the historical subjugation of women.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Interesting=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   1  

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @10:43PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @10:43PM (#798027)

    If the amount of collective mental effort wasted on these religions was put to useful purpose, we'd probably have colonies on Mars or cold fusion or at least something other than impenetrable gibberish.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 08 2019, @12:04AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 08 2019, @12:04AM (#798074)

      Humans are still chimps, just now learning how to speak and write. Give us a few hundred thousand more years. We might even acquire NI (Natural Intelligence)