Fuck. That. Shit. May the culture of human independence and individual freedom win over this authoritarian bullshit.
The US does this all the time with its horribly restrictive work visa policy.
Some startup wants to hire a passionate engineer from abroad -- and what happens? The US govt says you can't.
Paul Graham wrote about it back in December 2014: http://paulgraham.com/95.html
The US hates immigrants so much that there was at one point an attempt to create a floating ship in international waters near the Bay Area (without being actually in it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueseed
And lastly, the craziness of American xenophobia (especially the puzzling intense hatred of skilled immgirants no less) can seen in full blast, right here on HN, any time high-skilled work visas come up -- a lot of people right here on HN just can't wait force every last software developer (even those earning $200k) out of the country for the simple crime of them not being born here. I've conversed with immigrant-haters on HN for a long time[1], like for years. I've never understood why they hate me and other immigrants so much. It's puzzling, tbh. It's very tiring and emotionally tiring (when they effectively repeatedly tell you to "gtfo".) I've given up on engaging with them directly.
[1] One example where a user named ones_and_zeros essentially tells me to gtfo: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11313462 (see the parent of that comment as well). And I was in fact actually even scolded by dang for bringing it up later on: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13599190 dang is right in the sense that it is indeed an extremely emotional topic for me. These people are trying to (quite literally) destroy my life, and want to force me out of what's been my home for 10+ years. But I've learned it's actually best for one's own emotional/mental well-being to not engage with them.
1. No nation on Earth allows foreigners to move and work without a visa. Singling out the US here is completely illogical.
2. A nation regulating the movement of people into it's borders is a fundamental function of any government. Not having that would be like removing passwords from your server and opening it to the internet.
https://blog.yiddishe-kop.com/posts/my-pr-was-denied-by-iran...
My immediate reaction was that I was about to read some scandalous anti-semitism (as I'm sure you did too). The truth is a little more bureaucratic with no malice or discrimination from either contributor (I won't comment on the law itself!).
The title is a little click-baity but I'm not sure how it could be more accurate?
A lot of these restrictions were imposed by the Arab states in the very early days of Israel's "nationhood" and haven't been lifted since, so you don't have to expel people to do this.
If US/China did this there would be mass expulsions on an India-Pakistan partition level
Also, GitHub as an organization is not boycotting Israel, one of the users of its site is. The law / requirement is to state that you (i.e. the gov't contractor in question) will not boycott Israel. But it doesn't say anything about your customers also abiding by that provision.
Who Is Covered by the Laws?
The antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) apply to the activities of U.S. persons in the interstate or foreign commerce of the United States. The term "U.S. person" includes all individuals, corporations and unincorporated associations resident in the United States.
Conduct that may be penalized under the TRA and/or prohibited under the EAR includes:
Agreements to refuse or actual refusal to do business with or in Israel or with blacklisted companies. Agreements to discriminate or actual discrimination against other persons based on race, religion, sex, national origin or nationality.
—-
I would say that discrimination clearly applies in this case, and individuals do have a responsibility under the EAR.
In the same way that a US person shouldn't accept PRs from people in North Korea, Syria, or Iran under US laws.
I don't agree with either the Iranian or the US laws.
As an Australian, we have our own laws regarding interactions with people of other nations to deal with as well.
