Criminalizing Conscience: H.R. 867 and the Zionist War on Dissent

Boycotting apartheid may soon carry a 20-year prison sentence. Welcome to settler-colonial fascism in bipartisan clothing.

575+ days into genocide—and the U.S. is trying to outlaw your moral clarity.

On Monday, the House of Representatives is slated to vote on H.R. 867, the so-called "IGO Anti-Boycott Act." What sounds like bureaucratic legalese is, in truth, a dangerously repressive bill. Sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY)—a politician known for parroting Israeli talking points—this legislation seeks to weaponize federal law against anyone in the United States who chooses to align their purchasing, investing, or advocacy choices with international condemnation of Israel’s apartheid regime and illegal settlements.

At its core, H.R. 867 isn’t about diplomacy or trade policy. It is a fascistic clampdown on free expression. The bill extends the 2018 Anti-Boycott Act (originally aimed at boycotts stemming from coercive Arab League pressure) to now include voluntary, ethical boycotts that reflect an individual’s values or international legal guidance. Under this new framing, Americans could face criminal charges, civil penalties, or both simply for acting on nonviolent solidarity with Palestinians.

If passed, H.R. 867 would criminalize:

• Refusing to buy settlement-made goods due to their illegality under international law

• Urging a university or church to divest from companies complicit in occupation

• Publishing or circulating guides encouraging people to avoid products linked to the apartheid regime

This bill is designed to make your moral choices punishable—and by extension, to insulate Israel’s genocidal policies from grassroots accountability.

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Legal Framework: A Law Built to Terrorize Dissent

The legal foundation for H.R. 867 is 50 U.S. Code § 4843, a statute originally crafted to deter U.S. companies from being strong-armed into foreign state-led boycotts. The new legislation hijacks that precedent and perverts it—expanding the reach to punish Americans for politically motivated, value-driven decisions aligned with human rights frameworks.

The penalties are chilling:

• Up to $1 million in criminal fines

• Up to 20 years in prison

• $300,000 in civil fines

• Revocation of federal licenses and export privileges

These are not idle threats. They represent the infrastructure of repression—designed to make an example out of activists, business owners, journalists, clergy, students, and everyday citizens who refuse to be complicit in apartheid.

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The Real-World Implications: Criminalized Solidarity

Let’s make this tangible. Here’s how H.R. 867 would manifest in people’s lives:

1. The Grocer with a Conscience
A small grocery store owner in Dearborn, Michigan, chooses not to carry wines produced in illegal West Bank settlements. This decision is based on documented violations of international law and a UN Human Rights Council advisory. Under H.R. 867, if that reasoning is made public—or even internally documented—it could be grounds for federal prosecution.

2. The Faith Community Enacting Liberation Theology
A progressive Black church issues a denomination-wide call to boycott Israeli companies operating in Occupied Palestine. Congregants and clergy who follow this directive—especially if linked to EU or UN statements—could be targeted under the bill.

3. The Student Divestment Campaign
University students organize a campaign urging their administration to drop contracts with companies supplying surveillance tech to Israeli settlements. They cite EU recommendations and UN databases. These students could now be investigated under federal anti-boycott enforcement mechanisms.

4. The Informed Consumer
An individual cancels a catering order after discovering that ingredients were sourced from settlements, citing data from the UN business registry. That simple act of consumer awareness could fall within the scope of “abetting” a prohibited boycott.

5. The Investigative Journalist
A reporter publishes a detailed guide outlining corporations complicit in Israel’s occupation and encourages consumers to avoid them. Referencing IGO data or Palestinian government documents? That’s grounds for civil or criminal liability under H.R. 867.

6. The Ethical Investor
An investor reads a European Commission policy brief warning about the legal liabilities of doing business in settlements. They decide to divest from a corporation operating there. That divestment, linked to advisory international guidance, becomes criminalized.

These aren’t fringe hypotheticals. They are probable scenarios—and they target precisely the types of moral clarity that have driven every liberation movement, from apartheid South Africa to Jim Crow America.

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This Isn’t About Antisemitism—It’s About Protecting Apartheid

H.R. 867 will be presented as a bulwark against discrimination. Don’t fall for it.

This bill has nothing to do with protecting Jewish communities or combating anti-Jewish hate. It has everything to do with protecting a foreign regime engaged in genocide, settler expansion, and structural apartheid from the growing global movement demanding accountability.

International law—including UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 2334, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the Rome Statute—all confirm that Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestine are illegal, and that population transfer, home demolitions, and collective punishment constitute war crimes. Choosing not to fund these crimes is not hate—it is principled refusal to participate in atrocity.

H.R. 867 effectively tells Americans: if you act on these principles, we will criminalize you.

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From Silencing to Surveillance: A Broader Agenda

This bill is part of a broader, systematic campaign to chill dissent:

• Dozens of states have passed anti-BDS laws, often with vague language that allows arbitrary punishment of contractors, educators, and institutions.

• Palestinian-American voices are routinely deplatformed, surveilled, or smeared in corporate media.

• University groups face harassment, disbandment, or police intervention for holding BDS-related events or displaying Palestinian flags.

H.R. 867 raises the stakes: now it’s not just institutions. It’s you. Your choices. Your values. Your refusal to fund genocide.

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A Red Line Moment: Which Side Are You On?

Let’s be unflinching: this is not just another bad bill. It’s a political and ethical litmus test.

If you support the right to boycott, to divest, to stand in material solidarity with an oppressed people—this bill calls youthe threat. Not the apartheid state. Not the war criminal dropping bombs on refugee camps. You.

And if passed, H.R. 867 will become legal precedent for future repression. Today it's Palestine. Tomorrow it could be Sudan. Congo. Yemen. Your city. Your cause.

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What Can You Do?

• Call your representative. Tell them to vote NO on H.R. 867.

• Mobilize your community. Host teach-ins. Organize resistance. Flood congressional offices.

• Support legal defense funds for those criminalized by anti-boycott laws.

• Refuse to self-censor. Post. Speak. Boycott anyway.

The right to boycott is fundamental. The movement for Palestinian liberation will not be gagged, fined, or imprisoned out of existence. We’ve been here before. We know how to fight back.

Solidarity is not a crime. Genocide is.

We choose resistance. We choose justice. We choose Palestine.

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References

U.S. Legislation and Legal Frameworks:

• 50 U.S. Code § 4843 – Enforcement: Outlines criminal and civil penalties under the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018.
  https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/4843

• H.R. 867 – IGO Anti-Boycott Act (119th Congress, 2025–2026): Proposes amendments to apply anti-boycott provisions to international governmental organizations.
  https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/867Congress.gov | Library of Congress+12Congress.gov | Library of Congress+12Congress.gov | Library of Congress+12

International Law and Human Rights Reports:

• UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016): Reaffirms that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory have no legal validity.
  https://www.un.org/webcast/pdfs/SRES2334-2016.pdfUnited Nations Press+1The New Yorker+1

• Fourth Geneva Convention – Article 49: Prohibits the occupying power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
  https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-49legal-tools.org+11Amnesty International+11United Nations+11

• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – Article 8(2)(b)(viii): Defines the transfer of the occupier's civilian population into occupied territory as a war crime.
  https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2024-05/Rome-Statute-eng.pdf

• Human Rights Watch – “A Threshold Crossed” (2021): Details Israeli authorities' actions constituting the crimes of apartheid and persecution.
  https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecutionReliefWeb+1Human Rights Watch+1

• Amnesty International – “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians” (2022): Documents Israel's system of apartheid against Palestinians.
  https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/Amnesty International USA+2Amnesty International+2DIE WELT+2

• UN OHCHR – Database of Business Enterprises Involved in Israeli Settlements: Lists companies engaged in activities related to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
  https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session31/database-hrc3136