Act Today to Defeat Anti-BDS Bill in Congress

(CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, is urging Americans to contact their members of Congress to support the right of non-violent protest like boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).Members of Congress are being asked to oppose the passage of the 2015 US-European Union trade bill until it is amended to remove language that threatens European countries opposed to trade with Israel or its illegal settlements on occupied land.BDS is the same peaceful method of political activism has been used to challenge injustice in America and worldwide, including against one of the greatest forms of injustice in our time – Apartheid. Americans have engaged in political boycotts since the nation’s founding. The colonial American boycott of British tea imports and the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the civil rights era are examples of BDS.In March U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) joined Congressmen Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) in introducing the United States-Israel Trade Enhancement Act of 2015. This anti-BDS legislation is designed to pressure EU countries and reverse course on the steps it has taken in recent years to oppose Israel and illegal West Bank settlements.