ILLINOIS: Urgent Action – CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW – Don’t let Illinois penalize human rights boycotts of Israel!

The anti-boycott bills, HB4011 and SB1761, will be on the floors of both the Illinois House and Senate within the hour TODAY.

These bills would prohibit state agencies and state retirement services from entering into contracts or investing in companies that choose to boycott Israeli businesses because of Israeli human rights violations, including businesses based in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in contravention of international law.

Call your Illinois Representative and Senator NOW and urge them to oppose HB4011 and SB1761.

Suggested talking points:

• I am your constituent and I oppose House Bill HB 4011 or Senate Bill SB 1761, which is being voted on today.

• This bill attacks the rights of corporations, groups, and individuals to engage in economic boycotts that address human rights issues.

• The ACLU of Illinois has declared it UNCONSTITUTIONAL to penalize contractors for their political beliefs, associations, and activities.

You can find your Representative’s phone number here:
http://www.ilga.gov/house/

You can find your Senator’s phone number here:
http://www.ilga.gov/senate/

Boycotts of businesses that are based in Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian territory, or that profit from Israeli human rights violations, are a means of protesting Israel’s occupation and human rights violations against Palestinians. Such boycotts have wide political support in the US and internationally (see links below).

Urge your Representative and Senator in the Illinois legislature to oppose HB4011 and SB1761 by calling them now.

See the ACLU of Illinois’ statement opposing the legislation here.

See Palestine Solidarity Legal Support statement here.

Thank you for taking action!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/us/presbyterians-debating-israeli-occupation-vote-to-divest-holdings.html

http://umc-gbcs.org/resolutions/opposition-to-israeli-settlements-in-palestinian-land

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.536155

bdsmovement.net

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Take Action with the U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation: Tell Senate Finance Committee You Support BDS

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) praised civil rights-era boycotts but is pushing anti-BDS legislation.

We just learned that Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) will introduce an anti-BDS amendment to a bill in the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. While the exact text isn’t public yet, the amendment will be similar to a bill—S.619, the United States-Israel Trade Enhancement Act of 2015—he introduced last month.

Please call Sen. Cardin’s office today at (202) 224-4524 to oppose this legislation (talking points are below).

Cardin’s bill would make it a “principal trade negotiating objective of the United States” to “discourage politically motivated actions” that “limit commercial relations” with Israel and Israeli businesses, including those operating in illegal Israeli colonies in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

This bill is designed to pressure the European Union (EU), which is currently negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) with the United States, to reverse course on the steps it has taken in recent years to oppose Israeli settlements. These include new guidelines preventing entities operating from Israeli-occupied territory from receiving EU funding and a recent push to label settlement products entering the EU.

We need you to take action today to oppose this dangerous effort. Here’s what you can do to help:

If you have one minute, call Sen. Cardin’s office at (202) 224-4524 and state your opposition to his planned amendment. Here are a few talking points:

• I am calling to oppose Sen. Cardin’s planned amendment in the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow to make opposition to boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel a principal trade negotiating objective of the United States

• BDS measures are legitimate, nonviolent tactics to oppose Israel’s ongoing oppression of Palestinians and similar measures have been used in the past and present to advance social justice both at home and abroad

• The United States has no right to pressure other countries not to limit their commercial relations with Israel or Israeli businesses, especially those located in Israel’s illegal settlements

• Principal trade negotiating objectives of the United States should be what is  in the best interest of workers in the United States and abroad, and the environment and sustainability, not what is in the best interests of Israel’s apartheid control over the Palestinians

If you have five-15 minutes, please call Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, at (202) 224-5244, along with committee members Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) at (202) 224-2315, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) at (202) 224-3441, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) at (202) 224-2023, and ask them to oppose this amendment.

Also, click here to see a full list of committee members and call your Senator if s/he is on the committee as well. Be sure to mention that you are a constituent.

If you have a few hours and you’re near Washington, DC, join us tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22 for the Finance Committee hearing. Meet us at 10:30 AM outside of G-50 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

If you can, wear a BDS t-shirt and/or pin, bring a kuffiyeh, or other some piece of clothing that shows your solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Congressional attempts to legislate against BDS.

In January, Sen. Cardin praised the Montgomery Bus Boycott as an example of the power of boycotts as a time-tested tactic employed by civil society to pursue justice. “The ideals behind the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott…have not faded in time,” he wrote. The hypocrisy is glaring. What Cardin supported as a tactic for African-Americans gaining civil rights, he opposes for Palestinians seeking to attain their rights.

Let’s not let him get away with such brazen double standards.