DALLAS, Texas -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has filed a lawsuit against the state's attorney general and others over a law requiring contractors to certify they do not boycott Israel.

  • Law requires contractors to certify they do not boycott Israel
  • Plaintiffs say they lost work opportunities
  • Lawsuit asserts Fourteenth and First Amendments

The federal suit filed Tuesday argues the law forces people to choose between their First Amendment rights and their livelihoods. State Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with two school districts and two universities, are listed as defendants.

The suit asserts that the parties bringing the suit have either lost "contracting opportunities" because they declined to sign the certification or signed "at the expense" of their First Amendment rights. It says the law went into effect last year and requires contractors to certify that they do not boycott Israel or Israel-controlled territories.

The litigation asks the court to declare that the requirement violates the Fourteenth and First Amendments.

The state Attorney General also faces another lawsuit in the same vein that was filed this week. Bahia Amawi is suing Paxton and the Pflugerville Independent School District, where she has worked in the past nine years. Amawi said as a speech language pathologist she conducted bilingual and early childhood evaluations with the growing number of Arabic-speaking students in the district.

Amawi said in August, she was given an addendum to her contract which included the pro-Israel pledge.

“I’m working with kids to improve their speech and language in elementary school. I didn’t see any connection between the economy of Israel and my service to these kids in a school setting,” Amawi said.

Amawi is Palestinian and she said she still has family members living in the territory.  She said she thinks of them and how they are not granted the same constitutional liberties. 

“Government should not be restricting me on who I can boycott. They should not be telling me which products I cannot buy. That is a personal choice of mine if I decide not buy a product from Canada or from China for some reason,” she said. 

In a statement, Tamra Spence, a communications officer for Pflugerville ISD said:

“Pflugerville ISD was recently named in a lawsuit by a former contractor regarding contract language. This language is required by the State of Texas for all school districts in Texas, along with other governmental entities. Pflugerville ISD is committed to educating all students to be productive members of a diverse global community. Unfortunately, Pflugerville ISD and all Texas school districts are at the mercy of the state and the regulations printed into law, and in situations such as this, we are forced to spend time on state political issues and not on our core mission - educating students. Although Pflugerville ISD is the focus of the lawsuit, this is a state issue that affects all Texas public school districts and should be addressed at the state level.”

In a statement, Marc Rylander, the director of communications for the Office of the Attorney General said:

“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. 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.”