Committee hears rights‑and‑accountability debate on Maryland bill targeting nonprofits tied to illegal West Bank settlements

A reintroduced bill, House Bill 13‑94, drew a crowded and often emotional hearing as the House Judiciary Committee considered a measure that would prohibit Maryland nonprofit organizations from knowingly engaging in or supporting certain activity tied to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Sponsor Delegate Gabriel Acevedo said the bill — described in testimony as the "Not On Our Dime" Act — would bar state nonprofit tax benefits for organizations that knowingly fund, facilitate or promote settlement expansion or auctioning of land taken from Palestinians and would allow Maryland’s attorney general and harmed individuals to seek injunctive relief and damages.

Nut graf: Supporters framed the bill as a human‑rights accountability measure…