MIDWEST ADL
Help defeat two BDS bills now being considered by the Illinois legislature

Two bills have been introduced in the Illinois House and Senate to repeal Illinois’ decade-old anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) law. We need your help to stop this effort, starting in the Illinois House of Representatives. Legislators must hear clearly from our communities that repealing this law would legitimize discriminatory boycotts against Israel. Advocates for repeal are telling lawmakers that the Jewish community supports this move and repealing the anti-BDS law, and advancing the broader BDS movement, benefits Jews. That is false. These claims come from a small fringe and do not represent the broader Jewish community in Illinois. Silence allows that distortion to stand. A broad coalition of Jewish organizations – including Agudah Israel, the American Jewish Committee, ADL, JUF/Federation of Chicago, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, StandWithUs, and Jewish leaders and clergy statewide – is leading the effort to defeat these bills, but the voices that matter most to legislators are those of their constituents. Email Your State Lawmakers; Join ADL in urging your legislators now and tell them to vote NO.

NPR ILLINOIS Lawmakers seek to reverse Illinois law penalizing companies that boycott Israel A growing number of state lawmakers are moving to repeal a 2015 Illinois law penalizing companies that boycott Israel to protest its policies toward Palestinians. Amid concerns about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, lawmakers in Springfield supporting human rights for Palestinians have increasingly signed on to legislation opposing the decade-old anti-boycott law. But so far, these bills have stalled.