The American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-wing lobbying group, is securing commitments of unconditional support for Israel's attack on Gaza from state legislatures across the country, The Guardian reported Monday.
The group, which spearheads many conservative state legislative efforts, is now promoting a model resolution that declares “support for Israel’s right to pursue without interference or condemnation the elimination of Hamas,” the outlet reported. This resolution has been adopted by legislatures in at least eight states, including Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
The resolution claims that Hamas receives “support and funding from foreign state sponsors of terror, namely Iran” and uses civilians as “human shields.”
ALEC has played a crucial role in mobilizing political influence by advocating for local legislation and resolutions endorsing the Jewish state. This includes the enactment of laws aimed at hindering and penalizing support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which pressures Israel to stop its abuses against Palestinians.
“The efforts by the ALEC to influence state legislatures to pass resolutions to support the policies of a foreign country are an example of the powerful influence of wealthy lobbyists in our political system,” Michael Bradley, coordinator for the Arizona Palestine Network, told Salon. “We oppose any laws that attempt to block or punish American citizens or legislators from exercising their long-standing legal right to boycott, divest, or sanction any entity or country.”
The efforts of ALEC “to disempower” U.S. citizens should be “vigorously opposed,” he said. It is crucial for citizens to stay informed about their attempts to undermine their BDS rights and to actively strive to prevent ALEC's initiatives from succeeding, he added.
Since 2015, 36 states have passed laws with the aim of suppressing boycotts against Israel. These anti-boycott measures eliminate the longstanding legal protection afforded to boycotts, providing governments with the authority to tie employment opportunities to political views. In recent years, lawmakers have increasingly relied on these laws to restrict how Americans use boycotts as a tool for social and political change.
The right to boycott has been practiced in America for centuries and has achieved positive results, Bradley said, pointing to how British colonists boycotted British Tea in the 1760s because they didn't approve of the British government's monopoly of the tea trade. He also noted the example of the Montgomery bus boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. in the mid-1950s, which “proved to be a very effective way to advocate for civil rights for African Americans.”
ALEC advocated for the model resolution in state legislatures following an urgent meeting two weeks ago, according to the Guardian. The group is backed by corporate funding but has strong connections to pro-Israel Christian evangelicals.
Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, who has close ties to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, presented the case for supporting Israel, according to an agenda obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy. Lightstone previously served as a senior adviser to Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
We need your help to stay independent
Others who spoke during the meeting included Texas state Sen. Phil King, a member of the group’s board of directors and lead sponsor of a bill in support of Israel’s attack on Gaza passed by the Texas senate two days after Hamas' deadly attack on Oct 7.
King has played a leading role in advocating for additional pro-Israel legislation in Texas, co-authoring a law opposing boycotts of Israel and helping Texas become the first state to establish a commission responsible for overseeing the enforcement of the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Critics argue that this definition has, at times, been employed to suppress criticism of the Jewish state and has led to widespread restrictions of the right to free speech.
He introduced his bill after the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission submitted its first study on antisemitism in Texas to the Legislature in December. The study proposed eight recommendations to increase awareness and combat hate against Jewish people in Texas, including asking the Legislature to consider a ban on academic boycotts, The Austin American-Statesman reported.
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Texas has had other instances of restricting virtually any criticism of Israel. In 2018, a school district refused to renew the contract of a Palestinian-American school speech pathologist who refused to sign an anti-boycott pledge.
The Nebraska legislature incorporated ALEC’s language, asserting that Hamas uses Palestinians as "human shields" and expressing unequivocal support for Israel's attacks in Gaza. Meanwhile, North Dakota passed a resolution that also echoed claims made by ALEC that Hamas was in “receipt of support and funding from foreign state sponsors of terror, namely Iran” and that Israel has the right to continue its war in Gaza “without interference or condemnation,” The Guardian reported.
In Pennsylvania, a version introduced by politicians affiliated with ALEC stated that "Israel has every right to defend itself with all due and overwhelming force." In Wyoming, a resolution supported by a third of the legislature asserted that Israel is engaged in a "battle over good over evil" and opposed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to the Guardian.
ALEC pushed out a modified version of a resolution previously adopted by multiple states. This resolution included a statement asserting that "Israel is neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others," seemingly endorsing the claim by the Israeli right-wing that Palestinian territories belong to the Jewish state. Earlier iterations of the resolution explicitly endorsed "the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in the historical region of the Land of Israel," encompassing the occupied West Bank, the news outlet reported.
Read more
about the Israel-Hamas war fallout in the U.S.
Shares