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This article was originally published in Mondoweiss.

Since 2014, U.S. lawmakers have introduced over 200 bills targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The vast majority of these efforts have failed to pass, but more than 30 states have adopted anti-BDS laws.

The first state-based measure to take specific action against Israel boycotts was passed in Illinois in 2015; 49-0 in the Senate and 102-0 in the House. “This historic legislation is an important first step in the fight against boycotts of Israel and I hope other states move quickly to follow our lead,” declared then-Governor Bruce Rauner after signing it into law.

Rauner’s hope was quickly realized, as the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) adopted the Illinois law as a model for pushing anti-BDS laws in other states. According to Palestine Legal, 38 states have enacted laws or executive orders designed to designed to penalize the boycott movement.

Many of these measures have had a significant economic impact. In 2021, the Illinois board overseeing state employee pensions voted to bar funds to the company Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s’s decision to limit sales of its ice cream in Israel. A a result of the ruling, the state was forced to sell between $150–200 million in pension holdings and activating nearly $1 billion in coordinated state divestments nationwide.

Now, Illinois officials and activists are pushing the Illinois Human Rights Advocacy Protection Act, or HB 2723. The bill would repeal the state’s anti-BDS law and potentially serve as a model for legislatures across the country. The effort currently........

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