No one saw this coming…Update to this story.
Via WFB:
The Virginia State Bar will not reconsider holding its seminar in Jerusalem this year, the group’s president said Monday, despite an international outcry earlier this month after canceling the trip following pressure from anti-Israel activists.
VSB president Kevin Martingayle, who has faced a deluge of criticism from pro-Israel groups after scrapping the state agency’s upcoming conference in Jerusalem, said there would be no seminar trip at all this year.
Martingayle initially cited Israel’s “unacceptable discriminatory policies” as a reason for the cancellation, but later said the decision was due to low interest.
He told the Washington Free Beacon that the VSB would not reinstate the Israel visit, despite calls from pro-Israel groups, outraged VSB members, and the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Martingayle said other groups of attorneys were welcome to contact the VSB’s travel agent and take over the plans for the trip, which have not been completely discarded.
“[I]f any group of lawyers wants to take over what was planned and try to make it a go, it can be done,” he said. “Perhaps some of the folks upset with our decision will choose to revive the plans.”
Forty anti-Israel groups involved in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions [BDS] movement praised the VSB last week for pulling out of the visit and “reaffirm[ing] its commitment to the principles of equality enshrined in U.S. law.”