Missouri Becomes 30th US State to Punish Boycotts for Palestinian Freedom (UPDATED)
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Missouri Governor Mike Parson (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Updated July 14, 2020: Missouri governor Mike Parson signed the anti-boycott bill into law on July 13.
Oklahoma and Missouri have become the latest states to pass legislative measures aimed at punishing boycotts for Palestinian freedom.
The Oklahoma anti-boycott bill was signed into law in May, and the Missouri governor is expected to follow suit within the coming weeks. If he does so, Missouri will become the 30th state with such repressive laws on the books.
Both states will require state contractors to certify in writing that they are not engaged in boycotts of Israel or goods and services from Israel. While the laws differ in other ways, both will apply only to contracts valued at more than $100,000 and not to agreements with individuals.
Efforts to pass similar legislation in both states had failed in the past.
“Missouri tried twice to pass an anti-BDS law, attempts that were shut down by community organizing,” said Sandra Tamari – a Palestinian-American activist based near St. Louis. “Taking advantage of the pandemic, lawmakers pushed the bill through with no public testimony and ahead of bills dealing with COVID-19. Shielding Israel from a grassroots human rights movement was their priority.”
Across the country, lawmakers have used the pandemic—and now Black Lives Matter protests—as cover to advance repressive measures. Since the start of the COVID-19 shutdowns, Kentucky, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Mississippi passed measures criminalizing protests against pipelines and other fossil fuel projects.
These “critical infrastructure” bills seek felony charges for disruptions to coal, gas, and oil facilities as a way of curbing Indigenous rights and environmental justice activism.
In June, activists in Louisiana successfully pressured their governor to veto an amendment to the state’s existing critical infrastructure law to include flood control infrastructure like levies. The existing law has already transformed what was once a misdemeanor charge for trespassing on pipeline property to a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The amendment would have raised the maximum prison time to 15 years.
The Oklahoma and Missouri anti-boycott bills were passed during the height of the pandemic. During the subsequent nation-wide uprising demanding racial justice, Trump has threatened to declare Antifa a “terrorist organization,” and protesters are facing criminal charges for protesting and property destruction.
“These repressive measures—whether targeting Palestine, climate justice, or Black Lives Matter activists—are part of an attack on our right to dissent,” said senior staff attorney Meera Shah. “Rather than undermining our rights by punishing protest, these lawmakers should choose to stand up for justice and human rights at this critical time.”
Read more at righttoboycott.org.