Right to Boycott

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Write to your U.S. representative urging them to co-sponsor and support H. Res. 496, “Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.” #RighttoBoycott

Write to your U.S. representative urging them to co-sponsor and support H. Res. 496, “Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.” #RighttoBoycott

Defend our Right to Boycott!

Join us in defending our collective right to boycott! Write to your representative urging them to co-sponsor and support H. Res. 496.

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Subject:

As Christians and people of faith and supporters of Friends of Sabeel North America, I urge you to co-sponsor and publicly speak in support of H. Res. 496, “Affirming that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.”
 
Religious communities have long used the nonviolent tools of boycotts to stand in solidarity with people in their calls for justice. These measures have proven successful in producing constructive social change, including strengthening labor rights for farmworkers in this country, bringing about the Civil Rights Act, and ending apartheid in South Africa.

In 2005, after studying the success of these efforts, a broad coalition of Palestinian civil society issued a call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) to advance the long-denied Palestinians’ right to self-determination, freedom, justice, and equality. BDS is a set of tactics that call for human rights and accountability, and that Palestinian civil society called for people of conscience to adopt in support of their struggle. Palestinians expect the same rights as everyone else, and they should not apologize or be punished for that. Supporters of those rights—freedom, justice, and equality—should not be muzzled.

In 2009, Palestinian Christians supported the call for boycott and divestment in their landmark document, Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth. This contemporary, ecumenical confession of faith took inspiration from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. The Kairos document has led to denominations taking powerful action including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Methodist Church, the Mennonite Church USA, and the United Church of Christ; and tens of thousands of Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and secular Americans who support boycotts and divestment aimed at ending Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights.

We are deeply concerned about legislative efforts that seek to stigmatize, suppress, and in some instances criminalize constitutionally protected the exercise of free speech. Most recently has been the passage of H.Res. 246 which distorts the intent and usage of boycott to support Palestinian human rights and chills everyone’s free speech.

As people of faith, we are called to advocate on behalf of the oppressed while we work for a more peaceful and just world. As Americans, we insist that our constitutional right to free speech be protected. We urge you to co-sponsor and support H. Res. 496.

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