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, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
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.
