Our Minnesota Legislature is on the verge of enacting a bill that violates our First Amendment right of free speech. The "No Boycott of Israel" bill prohibits a vendor in contract with the state from engaging in any form of boycott of Israel.

This proposed anti-free speech legislation surreptitiously targets the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian human rights. It follows on the heels of a number of state and federal bills that are intended to constrain in some fashion the right of individuals, corporations, institutions, and organizations to criticize Israel's violations of international laws and oppressive policies against the Palestinian people ("Legislature musn't overreach on Mideast boycott," Jan. 26).

Legislative efforts to suppress speech critical of Israeli policies run counter to the growing support by certain segments of the U.S. public for Palestinian rights. In a recent Brookings Institute survey on "American Attitudes on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," almost 50 percent of Americans support imposing economic sanctions or taking serious action against Israel with regard to illegal settlements on Palestinian territory.

The use of economic pressure in the form of consumer and commercial boycotts has a long history in this country. Boycott is a historically recognized grass-roots form of non-violent protest.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Nashville "lunch counter" merchant boycott are examples of economic boycotts in the 1960s aimed at drawing attention to segregationist policies in the South.

Cesar Chavez built a nationwide movement in the 1970s aimed at improving the conditions of farm workers that was organized around grape and lettuce boycotts.

Economic boycotts helped bring about the collapse of South African apartheid.

Recent history revealed state government supporting economic boycotts. Following in the footsteps of the NCAA and corporations such as PayPal and IBM, Gov. Mark Dayton in April 2016 endorsed boycotting North Carolina by directing state employees not to travel there for nonessential business. Appalled by North Carolina's "bathroom law" discriminating against transgender people, Dayton decreed, "When the rights of some Americans are threatened, it is the responsibility of all Americans to stand in opposition to those discriminatory acts."

And in 2015, when Indiana had passed a law allowing businesses to discriminate against gay clientele, Dayton proposed boycotting until Indiana clarified that the law did not allow discrimination.

As a nation we currently find ourselves discussing constitutional issues like never before. This proposed anti-free speech bill gives us cause to be concerned about attempts by Minnesotan legislators to infringe on constitutionally protected boycotts because they disagree with a political position. Our democracy depends on citizens taking a stand against any acts to suppress our First Amendment rights.

Sanna Nimtz Towns, of St. Paul, is a retired teacher and a member of Minnesota Coalition for Palestinian Rights and the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.