began in 2005 as an outgrowth of Palestinian civil society, a nonviolent effort to place pressure on Israel to respect Palestinian rights. Originating with 170 Palestinian organizations, the movement has become global. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS says it urges Israel to comply with international law. “Israel is occupying and colonising Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes,” says the BDS website. The Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank (the “Occupied Territories” Israel took over in the 1967 Six-Day War), is half a century old, and the United Nations has declared by resolution that Israel’s settlements on Palestinian land “had no legal validity, constituting a flagrant violation under international lawand a major obstacle to the vision of two States living side-by-side in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.”

There is no consensus regarding the merits of BDS as a tactic. For example, some organizations oppose the Israeli occupation and advocate for Palestinian human rights, yet do not support the BDS movement. However, BDS, like the movement against South African apartheid in an earlier generation, is having an impact and gaining momentum, as evidenced by the pushback inherent in this current legislation.

A number of U.S. states have followed suit in the response to BDS. In 2016, New York became the first state to divest public funds supporting the BDS movement. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order directing state government to compile a list of institutions and companies