Sunday, the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by a law professor at UC Berkeley that argued:
My students are largely engaged and well-prepared, and I regularly recommend them to legal employers. But if you don't want to hire people who advocate hate and practice discrimination, don't hire some of my students. Anti-Semitic conduct is nothing new on university campuses, including here at Berkeley.
Last year, Berkeley's Law Students for Justice in Palestine asked other student groups to adopt a bylaw that banned supporters of Israel from speaking at events. It excluded any speaker who "expressed and continued to hold views or host/sponsor/promote events in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine." …
The bylaw … was rightly criticized for creating "Jew-free" zones…. For millennia, Jews have prayed, "next year in Jerusalem," capturing how central the idea of a homeland is to Jewish identity. By excluding Jews from their homeland—after Jews have already endured thousands of years of persecution—these organizations are engaging in anti-Semitism and dehumanizing Jews….
If a student endorses hate, dehumanization or anti-Semitism, don't hire him…. If you are a legal employer, when you interview students from Berkeley, Harvard, NYU or any other law school this year, ask them what organizations they belong to. Ask if they support discriminatory bylaws or other acts and resolutions blaming Jews and Israelis for the Hamas massacre. If a student endorses hatred, it isn't only your right but your duty not to hire him. Do you want your clients represented by someone who condones these monstrous crimes?
Here's one thing that the article didn't mention, though: In California, the state where likely about half of Berkeley Law graduates work (see below), it may well be a crime (as well as being civilly actionable) to refuse to hire people based on their political views about Israel. Many other states, counties, and cities have similar rules (see this article for a list). Here are the relevant statutory provisions, from the California Labor Code (dating back to 1937):
