National Lawyers Guild
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a public interest association of legal professionals, refused to sell advertisement space in its annual gala journal to an Israeli company. According to an email sent by the NLG National Office, the Guild’s refusal was based on an official “resolution barring [NLG] from accepting funds from Israeli organizations.”
The Lawfare Project is lead counsel representing Bibliotechnical Athenaeum, the Israeli organization whose ad was rejected by the Guild, in a groundbreaking lawsuit arguing that New York City and State human rights and anti-discrimination laws prohibit an entity from engaging in BDS-related discriminatory conduct based on national origin and/or citizenship.
After nearly four years of litigation and denial of two motions to dismiss filed by the Guild, The Lawfare Project reached a victorious settlement. Under the legally binding agreement, the Guild committed itself to refraining from discrimination against Israelis in any of its activities and affirmed that no existing or future organizational resolutions are to be interpreted as to require discrimination against Israelis. Moreover, as a demonstration of its newfound dedication to compliance with the applicable laws, the Guild agreed to break its own boycott by selling ad space to Bibliotechnical in its next dinner journal or equivalent publication.
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