Texas Teacher Sues After Being Fired For Not Signing Anti-BDS Agreement
Bahia Amawi Image by twitter
(JTA) — A speech pathologist in Austin, Texas, is suing the local public school district after she was let go for refusing to sign an agreement that she “does not” and “will not” engage in a boycott of Israel.
The lawsuit filed on Monday morning in federal court in Texas calls the demand a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech, the Intercept reported.
Born in Austria, Bahia Amawi is a U.S. citizen who has lived in the country for 30 years. She has worked since 2009 on a contract basis with the Pflugerville Independent School District. When her contract was renewed in August it contained the no-Israel-boycott clause.
In May, Texas became the 20th U.S. state to pass a law or executive order banning state business with companies that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Now there are 26 states with such legislation and another 13 pending, according to Palestine Legal. The American Civil Liberties Union has raised objections to many of the laws, saying they inhibit free speech.
Amawi did not sign the contract because she and her family do not purchase goods produced by Israeli companies in support of the boycott against Israel over the occupation of the West Bank.
She is the only certified Arabic-speaking child’s speech pathologist in the district, which has a growing Arab population.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
