Amawi has worked for the last nine years for the Pfugerville Independent School District on a contract basis. However, when she came to renew the contract this year she noticed that there was a new addition. She had to certify that she does not and will not engage in a boycott of Israel or “otherwise take any action that is intended to inflict economic harm” on Israel. A lawsuit has been filed on her behalf in a federal court in the Western District of Texas, alleging a violation of her First Amendment right of free speech.
Bahia Amawi
Amawi was born in Austria. She received a master’s degree in speech pathology back in 1999. Since then she has specialized in evaluation of young children with language difficulties. She has lived in the US for the last 30 years. She speaks English German and Arabic quite fluently. She began working in the Pflugerville Independent School District that includes Austin in 2009 on a contract basis. She works giving assessments and providing support for the county’s growing Arabic-speaking immigrant community. Each year her contract has been renewed with no controversy or problem until this year.
She was prepared to renew her contract until she saw that she now had to certify that she does not currently boycott Israel and will not do so during the term of her contract along with a promise to do nothing that will bring economic harm etc. on Israel as mentioned earlier.
The Intercept notes: “The sole political affirmation Texans like Amawi are required to sign in order to work with the school district’s children is one designed to protect not the United States or the children of Texas, but the economic interests of Israel. As Amawi put it to The Intercept: “It’s baffling that they can throw this down our throats and decide to protect another country’s economy versus protecting our constitutional rights.””
In response to a complaint by Amawi her supervisor tried to see if there was any way around the barrier to Amawi being employed but eventually told her that she would have to sign the oath because the district would be legally barred from paying her if she did not.
Amawi is not the only victim of this requirement as there will be no one who can provide the service that she provides for the children she served since she is likely the only Arabic speaking person qualified to do her job.
The Texas Israel anti-BDS oath law
The Texas law against Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) on Israel was enacted on May 2 last year by the Texas State Legislature and signed into law two days later by Governor Greg Abbott. The bill passed the house unanimously 131 to 0. In the Senate there were 25 for and 4 against.
During the signing at the Austin Jewish Community Center Governor Abbott said: “Any anti-Israel policy is an anti-Texas policy.” The language of the bill was so sweeping that late last year some victims of Hurricane Harvey were told that could only receive state disaster relief it they first signed a pledge never to boycott Israel. The author of the bill, State Rep. Phil King said that this application of the bill was a misunderstanding but also admitted that the bill’s purpose was to make sure that no public funds would ever go to any person who supports a boycott of Israel.
Other states have similar legislation
As the map shows at this site, 26 different states now also have similar laws barring state contractors from boycotting Israel. This includes not just Republican governed states but Democratic ones such as supposedly liberal California, and New York. There are also similar bills pending in 13 more states.
The contract, which stems from a 2017 law passed by the state’s Republican-held legislature and governor that prohibited state agencies from contracting with companies boycotting Israel, is the subject of a lawsuit filed this week by Amawi in federal district court in Austin.
The contract, which stems from a 2017 law passed by the state’s Republican-held legislature and governor that prohibited state agencies from contracting with companies boycotting Israel, is the subject of a lawsuit filed this week by Amawi in federal district court in Austin.
Several different parties speak out against the oath
The American Conservative writes: “No one should have to check his or her political rights at the door in order to be employed by the state of Texas or by any other government in this country. More broadly, no American should have to toe an ideological line created to shield a foreign government from the consequences of its policies. In addition to penalizing speech that the state wants to discourage and thus violating the Constitution, the Texas law betrays an excessive attachment to a foreign country. There is something deeply wrong when American lawmakers would sooner trample on the Constitution to demonstrate their solidarity with a client state on the other side of the planet. ”
Some believe the oath is unconstitutional as Amawi claims: “Fred O. Smith, a constitutional law expert at Emory University, cited two Supreme Court precedents: a 1996 case that found that it was unconstitutional for government officials to retaliate against independent contractors for their speech, as well as 1976 ruling, Elrod v. Burns, that found it unconstitutional for governments to refuse to hire people for their political views, in most circumstances.“These principles taken together strongly suggest that refusing to renew a contract of someone who wishes to advocate a political position raises very serious constitutional concerns under those Supreme Court precedents,” Smith said.”
