Discrimination and free speech were strong buzzwords at a Massachusetts State House hearing Tuesday, where lawyers, legislators, faith leaders, and organizers testified both for and against a proposed bill which could chill and even penalize a state contractor’s right to boycott. The bill, titled “An Act prohibiting discrimination in state contracts,” is a thinly-veiled guise to penalize supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which uses nonviolent economic practices to protest the Israeli occupation and mistreatment of Palestinian peoples.
Proponents of the bill—including members of the Jewish Community Relations Council, who introduced the legislation—argued these claims of boycotting are discriminatory, particularly against Israeli-American Jews. The opposition—led by a coalition including Massachusetts Peace Action, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine—brought light to the fact that the BDS movement targets Israel’s policies, not their people, and anti-discrimination laws are already present in Massachusetts, making this bill a moot point. Additionally, the bill threatens a contractor’s First Amendment right to boycott.