On Monday morning, a lawsuit was filed on her behalf in a federal court in the Western District of Texas. Amawi is claiming that her First Amendment right of free speech was violated. Amawi filed the lawsuit with the assistance of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Legal Defense Fund, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group headquartered in Washington, DC.
According to Amawi, she was notified of a new job requirement in August, stating that she must promise not to boycott Israel. The clause in her contract was the result of an anti-Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) bill that Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed in May, rendering it illegal for Texas government groups to contract with companies that boycott Israel.
"My first reaction was shock," Amawi told the Texas Tribune. "Why is the government restricting me from boycotting a certain entity?"
However, when Amawi, who provides support for Arabic-speaking children in Austin, refused to sign the addendum, her contract was terminated on September 17.
"Texas' ban on contracting with any boycotter of Israel constitutes viewpoint discrimination that chills constitutionally-protected political advocacy in support of Palestine," Amawi's attorneys wrote, Raw Story reported.
As an American citizen of Palestinian descent, Amawi claims that she was forced to either sign a contract against her values or lose her job.
"I have a lot of family members who are still in the occupied territory, suffering from the brutality and the aggression and suffering everyday due to the occupation," she told the Tribune.
According to Pflugerville Independent School District spokesperson Tamra Spence, the district was obligated to follow the state's law.
"The plaintiff did not agree to the contract as written; therefore, it was unable to be executed in accordance with Texas law," Spence wrote in an email to the Tribune.
Amawi, who was contacted via her Facebook page, did not immediately respond to Sputnik's request for comment.
The BDS movement is a Palestinian-led movement fighting for the freedom, justice and equality of Palestinians by putting nonviolent pressure on Israel through the boycott of Israeli-made goods and academic and cultural events, pressuring companies to divest from Israel and calling for international sanctions on Israel to force the country to comply with international law and end the occupation of Arab lands.
