ACLU challenges state's Israel boycott law

The American Civil Liberties Union is going to court on behalf of four Texans, including a Texas State University student, to challenge a state law that requires workers under state contracts to pledge not to boycott Israel or face the loss of their jobs or potential income.

The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday is the second case to call out the Texas law this week. Speech pathologist Bahia Amawi is suing state Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Pflugerville Independent School District after the pro-Israel clause was added during her annual contract renewal with the district.

"I didn't understand how my position as a speech therapist helping kids with speech and behavior has any relationship to the economy of Israel," Amawi, who has worked for the Pflugerville district for nine years, told the American-Statesman.

The ACLU suit names Paxton and the Klein school district, the Lewisville school district and the boards of regents at the University of Houston and Texas A&M University-Commerce as defendants.

The plaintiffs are freelancer John Pluecker, Rice University graduate student Obinna Dennar, Texas State student Zachary Abdelhadi and George Hale, a reporter for a National Public Radio member station owned by Texas A&M University-Commerce.

The ACLU's lawsuit said the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights were inhibited by the anti-boycott clause in their contracts to work at state government entities. A 2017 law keeps government entities in Texas from contracting with and investing in companies that boycott Israel.

"The First Amendment protects the rights of individuals and companies to participate in political boycotts," the lawsuit says. "The state should be prohibited from forcing its own viewpoints on those who boycott Israel."

Pluecker refused to sign a contract with the University of Houston to do translation and guest speaker work in March because of the pro-Israel clause in the contract with the school. He lost $1,750 because of his refusal to sign the contract, the lawsuit says.

Dennar lost more than $1,000 for refusing to sign a contract to judge Klein district debate tournaments in 2017 and 2018 that included the clause, according to the suit. Abdelhadi went through a similar experience judging Lewisville district debate tournaments. He lost income that would have helped pay for three semesters of textbooks, car payments and several months of rent in San Marcos, according to the suit.

"I'm sorry I can't sign it, because I boycott Israel," Abdelhadi said in the lawsuit.

Hale said he signed a contract containing the clause so he could keep his job as a reporter at public radio station KETR, despite it contradicting with his personal and political beliefs.

Paxton spokesman Marc Rylander defended the anti-boycott law with a statement similar to his response to Amawi's lawsuit earlier this week.

“Private citizens and companies have every right to express their views on any issue they wish by boycotting companies and citizens. They do not, however, have a right to use their business activity with the state to make that statement," Rylander said. "The taxpayers of Texas do not want their money used to marginalize and attack a key ally and trading partner of Texas, and they have said so at the ballot box. They, too, have the right to express their views."

Gov. Greg Abbott responded Monday on Twitter to Amawi's suit challenging the law, saying, "Texas stands with Israel. Period."