Anti-BDS Legislation by State
Click on a state below for more information about anti-BDS legislation. Click here for federal legislation.
Update: 10 things to know about anti-BDS legislation
We do our best to keep each state page updated on a rolling basis. Since 2014, at least 102 anti-BDS measures have been introduced in state/local legislatures across the country. As of June 2018, 25 states have enacted anti-BDS laws.
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This site is a joint effort by U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Palestine Legal.
Resources
- What is BDS?
- Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) "Right to BDS" Statement
- Movement for Black Lives Policy Platform: Invest-Divest
- FOSNA sign-on letter: Christian Leaders Denounce the Recent Wave of Anti-BDS Legislation
- United Methodist Kairos Response (UMKR) Policy Paper: UMKR Opposed anti-BDS Legislation
- Ecumenical statement on anti-BDS legislation: Employing Economic Measures as Nonviolent Tools for Justice in the Israeli-Palestinian Context, August, 2016
- Legal and constitutional analysis on anti-BDS legislation in the Harvard Law Review
- LA Times Editorial: Boycotts of Israel are a protected form of free speech, July 5, 2016
Some perspective
Click here for a more in-depth legal analysis of anti-bds legislation
These bills are the result of a campaign to suppress Palestine human rights activism in the U.S. Israel's interest in restricting this activism should not override our right to advocate for change.
The good news is that your right to engage in boycotts related to Israeli human rights abuses and to advocate for BDS is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. None of the bills and resolutions described here prohibit you from engaging in BDS activities.
Whatever your views on Israel and Palestine, these bills should be of concern because they threaten the rights of everyone in the U.S. to take collective action to address injustice. Moreover, we should all be alarmed that a foreign government, Israel, is lobbying U.S. politicians to restrict our rights.