Key Points: 

• Arizona anti-boycott Israel law faces First Amendment campaign challenge

• Campaign seeks repeal through lawsuits, lobbying, ballot initiative 

• Attempts to repeal the law through legislature out of the question for majority

A law prohibiting state agencies, cities, towns, counties and universities from contracting with businesses that boycott Israel is under fire for alleged First Amendment violations in a newly launched campaign. 

The Right to Dissent campaign is starting small with public engagement and calls for legal challenges, but it eventually plans to build toward a citizens initiative to repeal the anti-boycott pledge and prohibit any like it from taking shape in the future. 

“This is not a vanity project. We will work tirelessly to educate the public and the legislators at all levels about the constitutional laws that suppress free speech in Arizona,” said Eva Putzova, campaign lead and former Flagstaff city councilmember. “If we have to, we will reaffirm our right to the freedom of speech, which includes political boycott, through a statewide citizen initiative process.”

 In 2016, Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2617, prohibiting public entities from entering into any contract with a company without a certification stating the business is not currently engaged in and agrees not to engage in a boycott of Israel. 

In 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mikkel Jordahl, an attorney contracting with the Coconino County Jail District to provide public legal services to incarcerated people. 

Though Jordahl had personally boycotted consumer goods and services by businesses supporting Israel, he signed the boycott admonition, fearing a loss of $18,000 in yearly income from the contract.

In court, Jordahl claimed the state law cornered him into choosing between his beliefs and a substantial loss of income. He asserted violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, claiming restriction on political expression, discrimination based on ideological beliefs and compelled speech. 

A federal judge agreed to block the law on First Amendment grounds. The state appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but before any ruling, the Legislature amended the law to only apply to for-profit companies with more than ten employees on contracts exceeding $100,000. 

The change made it so Jordahl no longer had standing to challenge the law, and judges dismissed the case. 

In 2022, the Legislature amended the law once more to require contractors to sign the anti-boycott statement at state universities, community colleges and employee retirement funds. 

Thabet Khalidi, an attorney and organizer with the Right to Dissent campaign, said with the law still in effect, businesses are still left to choose between “its values and its livelihood.”

When answering why the campaign was challenging the now decade-old law, Syed Mahmud Nasir Raza, a supporter of the campaign and organizer with Progressive Actions, said, “The most important reason, I think, is there’s been a genocide in Gaza. That’s why we are all here today. That genocide must be stopped. It’s continuing today with the active support and complicity and partnership of the United States government.”

He continued, “This must end, and one of the best ways to end it is through boycott.” 

Khalidi added that the aim of the campaign extends far beyond the issue of Israel.

“We’re not asking for the state to agree with any boycott,” Khalidi said. “We are asking the state to stop being a political enforcer.” 

Moreover, Khalidi argued that in recent years lawmakers have sought to thread in additional clauses for public contracts. For instance, this session, Rep. Lupe Diaz, R-Benson, introduced House Bill 2170, which prohibits any company housed in China from participating in any state contract process. It also requires businesses to certify compliance. 

Members of the coalition include Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, Martín Quezada, former lawmaker and attorney and civil rights director for Council on American-Islamic Relations Arizona, Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestinian business leaders, Bobby Nichols, a Democrat running for for Tempe City Council, and Kai Newkirk, a Democrat challenging Rep. Greg Stanton in Congressional District 4. 

The Right to Dissent campaign aims to start the path toward repeal with public education, then lobbying efforts in the state house, a search for plaintiffs to lodge a lawsuit and eventually, a voter initiative. 

Khalidi made a call for any small business owner with more than 11 employees and a contract worth more than $100,000 looking to challenge the law to get in touch. Putzova noted a ballot measure will be the final step, with efforts first put toward campaigns, legal attempts and lobbying state lawmakers. 

“Legislative leadership can turn the tide, and this coalition behind me is here to support that work. We can start by repealing the 2016 law,” Ortiz said. “My job as a senator is to defend the Constitution, not weaponize state power against people’s beliefs that I may or may not agree with. I will work with this coalition until no Arizonan has to choose between their conscience and their ability to do business with their own government.”

Attempts at repeal in the Legislature are likely to hit a wall, though. 

In a text, Senate President Warren Petersen said “it may come as no surprise that we support Israel.”  And when asked whether legislative leadership would entertain any attempts to repeal the law, Andrew Wilder, a spokesperson for House Republicans, said “no.”