On Tuesday Gov. Doug Ducey signed SB 1167 into law. It’s an amendment of a previous law that required all government contractors to certify they are not participating in the boycott, divest and sanction movement (BDS) against Israel or Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
That law, passed in 2016, was quickly challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union in court. They argued it violated First Amendment rights to free speech and protest.
U.S. District Court Judge Diane J. Humetewa agreed and blocked the measure, writing:
“The Court also finds that the balance of equities tips in favor of Plaintiffs [contractors]. Defendants [the state] will experience little to no hardship by enjoining the enforcement of a law that does nothing to further any economic state interest and infringes on First Amendment protections. Although generally barring discrimination on the basis of national origin is a legitimate state interest, the State clearly has less intrusive and more viewpoint-neutral means to combat such discrimination. Plaintiffs, on the other hand, have shown a likelihood of irreparable harm if the Certification Requirement is not enjoined. Moreover, public interest favors an injunction as the public has little interest in enforcement of unconstitutional laws.”
The state appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court, which scheduled oral arguments for the appeal on June 6. However, Arizona lawmakers successfully passed SB 1167, which avoids another loss in court.
The new law, introduced by Republican Senator Paul Boyer, “limits the anti-boycott certification to for-profit companies with more than 10 employees and government contracts worth more than $100,000,” according to the ACLU. This means that many individuals and businesses who contract with the government are no longer subject to the certification.
BDS “works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law,” according to the Palestinian BDS National Committee’s website.
This new move is expected to make the anti-BDS law less problematic by decreasing the amount of contractors affected, but could still see further pushback from the courts.
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2019.
Golan hights= alsace-lorraine.
Using State procurement laws to stiffle ANY kind of private free speech by any private contractor,just wont stand up. This is yet another “me too” law forced on them by their masters, who are not the citizens of Arizona.
I support free speech. I cannot support BDS; it’s racist. This article treats BDS as merely a political movement; if so the article FAILS to at least disclose the BDS’ dangerous origin story. But it’s not just politics. BDS also deliberate ignores the millions suffering in China (Uighurs), Yemen (everyone), Syria (almost everyone) and other worldwide atrocities [especially the harm to African nations and their people over resources!], restricting their ire /only/ for the only Jewish state — I’m no apologist, but the reaction of BDS to these other crises is stark and the focus unexplainable by anything but racism. And using a smartphone and ignoring the rare conflict minerals that go into the thing is sheer hypocrisy. I don’t knock BDS for trying, nor for its free speech to which it’s entitled. But when articles like this treat BDS uncritically, when it’s no less racist and myopic and exclusionary than other hate groups, it’s the reporting that’s the problem, not the substance of the story. You don’t talk about the KKK without using terms that describe it as evil, yet BDS gets a pass. Instead of focusing on the speech issue, the GOP should focus on the foreign relations constitutional law. Instead of focusing on BDS, and contributing to such efforts started by the self proclaimed Jew hating “Muslim Brotherhood” [see BDS Founder’s posts about killing Jews, not about Israel], Dems and civil rights activists should learn from their example in other areas: learn to self examine what prompts you to so easily buy into this message of hate; Golda Meir was right, when the Palestinians love their kids more than they hate Jews, Israel would have a peace partner. For those who support Israel’s destruction and support driving Israel into the sea, look in the mirror and see the face of racist anti-semitism; Jews are no less a people deserving of a safe space than any other people. Period. They’re unsafe in San Diego, unsafe in Pittsburgh, unsafe in Toulouse, Brussels, London, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Mosul (Nineveh) Iraq, and when you face and grasp that not-subtle nuance you can THEN gripe about Israel via BDS. Reporting half the story here, like this post about the GOP movement, without any analysis or context, harms everyone.
So well said Tsvi Gold. Thank you.