The BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement is an international campaign that “works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.” You
can learn more about it here.
I have participated in BDS campaigns for a long time. It was begun by several Palestinian leaders and modeled after earlier, international BDS campaigns that successfully targeted South African apartheid.
History tells us that BDS can work to bring important social and political transformation. And it is working, slowly but surely, to shed light on Israel’s dehumanization of Palestinians.
Here are two important points concerning BDS in the US:
First, did you know that 26 states have passed anti-BDS laws (and who 
knows how many local municipalities) making it illegal to do business with anyone involved in BDS activity? Similar legislation is pending in another 13 states.
BDS activism is also a new excuse for Israel to blacklist visitors, barring them from entering the country.
Most recently a speech pathologist in Texas lost her job for refusing to sign a new contract demanding that she forswear any BDS activity. As a Muslim American, she refused and was terminated. (Learn more about her story here and here).
Listen to her story below:
Second, several members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are trying to sneak a last minute provision called the Combating BDS Act into an upcoming appropriations bill. This act would criminalize any activity that lobbied state or local governments to divest from Israeli-based products or goods.
The bill is being opposed by several Jewish organizations (here and here) as well as the ACLU (which is a great organization, despite the objections of the Religious Right) as well as Senators Bernie Sanders and Diane Feinstein.
This bill is unconstitutional. And American Christianity is supposed to like the Constitution, right?
Please call your congressional representatives and tell them, whether or not you agree with the BDS movement, that it is just plain wrong for a foreign government, in this case Israel, to pay off U.S. lawmakers so as to limit our rights to free speech, freedom of association, and the freedom to lobby our own elected officials in any way we wish.
What would you think if you heard that China or Russia were funding such a campaign in Congress?
