SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Yesterday evening, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to ensure that the state and its range of public agencies will not contract with businesses engaging in discriminatory boycotts against minority groups, including ones that undermine California’s relationship with Israel.
“We applaud Governor Brown for signing this groundbreaking legislation,” said Shawn Evenhaim, Chairman of IAC for Action. “This new law sends a strong message that the state of California will accept its responsibility to protect its residents from the systemic hate and discrimination spread by the BDS movement and its proponents.”
Over the past nine months, the Israeli-American Coalition for Action (IAC for Action) has organized and mobilized the Israeli-American community, led a broad coalition of advocacy organizations and worked with a bipartisan group of legislators in support of the bill.
In recent years, BDS groups have targeted, harassed and in certain cases, physically assaulted those who support Israel or are Californians of Israeli descent, creating an unprecedented climate of intimidation and discrimination, particularly on college campuses. A wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric and anti-Israeli discriminatory activity across the state caused significant concern among lawmakers.
AB 2844, the California Combating BDS Act, received overwhelming bipartisan support from the State Assembly, which passed it with a 69-1 vote on Aug. 30, and the State Senate, which passed the legislation by a vote of 34-1 on Aug. 24.