FMEP President Lara Friedman has for years been researching and documenting ongoing Israel-Palestine-related “lawfare” efforts — i.e., efforts to exploit U.S. laws (state and federal) and courts to quash criticism and activism challenging Israeli policies, to delegitimize Palestinian organizations and the Palestinian cause, and to undermine and even criminalize support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people. The results of her research — in the form of regularly updated databases, reports, analyses, and op-eds — is collected below.

• December 1, 2017

  What would Israel Anti-Boycott Act Do? Read the Law (amended by the Act) for Yourself

  Lawfare | Legislative Round-ups

  People continue to argue about what the Israel Anti-Boycott Act would or wouldn’t do, or aim or doesn’t aim to do. It is a very odd debate, because this is a matter of facts, not opinion (opinions may well differ on what people hope it will or won’t do; the facts about what it would do to the law are a matter of record).

  To facilitate a clearer debate about this issue, I’ve helpfully pulled into this document all of the existing law that would be amended by the S. 720 (with links), and then I’ve gone ahead and made the amendments that S. 270 would make in those laws.

• January 12, 2018

  Israel’s Deplorable Boycott Of BDS Supporters Is Just The Beginning

  Lawfare | Op-Eds

  Op-ed by Lara Friedman originally published in The Forward, January 9, 2018 Over the weekend, in a decision redolent of the repressive policies of the…

• January 31, 2018

  Federal Court Prelim Ruling on Kansas Israel-focused Gag Law – key excerpts

  Lawfare

  When it comes to the wave of Israel/settlements-focused anti-boycott bills laws being considered and adopted in state legislatures (and by executive orders), many people –…

• January 31, 2018

  BDS Opponents Want Israel Held To A Lower Standard

  Lawfare | Op-Eds

  Op-ed by Lara Friedman originally published in the Forward, January 31, 2018 The recent Pew Poll reporting a decline in Democratic support for Israel sparked…

• March 5, 2018

  What would the [“SOFTENED”] Israel Anti-Boycott Act Actually Do? 


  Lawfare

  People continue to argue about what the Israel Anti-Boycott Act would or wouldn’t do, or aim or doesn’t aim to do. It is a very…

• March 19, 2018

  U.S. Politicians Are Backing a Free Speech Exception for Israel — & Creating a Template for Broader Assault on the First Amendment

  Lawfare | Op-Eds

  Op-ed by Lara Friedman originally published on Medium, March 19, 2018. In the turbulent Trump era, concern about free speech is a bipartisan affair. Republicans decry efforts to silence voices of the political and religious Right; Democrats celebrate protests against the Trump administration and its policies. At the same time, however, lawmakers from both parties are working together to erode the First Amendment, in a joint effort to create a new political free speech exception for Israel. The potential ramifications of this effort are far-reaching and should provoke deep bipartisan alarm.

• January 11, 2019

  Fact-Checking AIPAC’S Fact Sheet on The Combating BDS Act

  Lawfare | Legislative Round-ups

  AIPAC is circulating to members of Congress a memo defending the Combating BDS Act (CBA) – the controversial measure included as part of the first…

• January 24, 2019

  Deconstructed w/ Mehdi Hassan: What You Can’t Say About Israel (ft. Lara Friedman & Marc Lamont Hill)

  Lawfare | Podcasts, Webinars, & Event Videos

  Guests Lara Friedman and Marc Lamont Hill join host Mehdi Hassan for an episode of his podcast, “Deconstructed.” You can listen and download the podcast…

• April 18, 2019

  Occupied Thoughts: A Civil Discussion About The BDS Movement w/ Peter Beinart & Omar Barghouti

  Lawfare | Podcasts, Webinars, & Event Videos

  In this special, live episode of FMEP’s podcast “Occupied Thoughts,” Peter Beinart talks to Omar Barghouti, one of the Palestinian founders of the global BDS…

• August 2, 2019

  The +972 Podcast: How BDS Became Such A Big Deal in American Politics

  Lawfare | Podcasts, Webinars, & Event Videos

  Click here for to listen to the podcast. The United States’ approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has dramatically transformed since Trump took office, but a…