Both the Maryland and DC chapters of the National Lawyers Guild signed on to a letter to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, in response to him signing a new anti-BDS executive order that attempts to sanction the growing movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel over its violations of Palestinian human rights. The executive order comes shortly after a nationwide controversy after the town of Dickinson, Texas attempted to require people seeking Hurricane Harvey relief aid to certify that they did not boycott Israel (a measure since rescinded) on the basis of Texas anti-BDS legislation.

It also comes after a lawsuit filed by a Mennonite teacher represented by the ACLU, who was denied a contract by the Kansas Department of Education because she refused to sign an anti-BDS certification. In Maryland, anti-BDS legislation has failed to pass the Assembly on several occasions after “widespread public outrage and concern about the implications of such legislation on freedom of speech.”

The National Lawyers Guild is involved nationwide in campaigns against and challenges to anti-BDS legislation that attempt to silence and chill Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizing.

The letter is below: