Florida Senate - 2014                              CS for SR 894
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education; and Senators Sobel and Brandes
       
       
       
       
       
       581-03199-14                                           2014894c1
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing opposition to the academic
    3         boycott of Israeli universities and institutions of
    4         higher learning and support of academic and political
    5         freedom and collaboration with Israeli universities.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, Israel is the only country in the Middle East
    8  which is a democracy, and
    9         WHEREAS, Israel is a strong ally of the United States, and
   10  this alliance is based on shared values and interests, and
   11  invaluable cooperation in military technology, cyber security,
   12  medicine, biotechnology, agriculture, bilateral trade and
   13  commerce, as well as educational, research, and cultural
   14  exchanges, and
   15         WHEREAS, some groups have proposed an academic boycott as a
   16  means of insinuating that Israel discriminates against
   17  Palestinian Arabs, and
   18         WHEREAS, Israeli universities are in reality open to all
   19  people, regardless of gender, creed, race, or nationality, and
   20  fully encourage academic freedom, and
   21         WHEREAS, the academic boycott of Israeli universities and
   22  institutions of higher learning is antithetical to the
   23  principles of academic freedom and to the free and open exchange
   24  of ideas, NOW, THEREFORE,
   25  
   26  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         That the Florida Senate stands with Israeli universities
   29  and institutions of higher learning, and stands against the
   30  academic boycott of Israeli universities, and
   31         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Senate encourages
   32  and welcomes bipartisan support in recognition of Israel’s right
   33  to academic freedom and collaboration with institutions around
   34  the world.