A Texas Muslim teacher was allowed to return to her job after a court verdict blocked an anti-BDS on the grounds that it was “likely unconstitutional”

Bahia Amawi was forced to leave her job of 10 years as a Speech Pathologist for refusing to sign an anti-boycott clause was part of the district school contract. The contact clause explicitly specify that employees would not boycott Israel while working at the school.

Amawi, a Palestinian-American, refused to sign on the basis that the clause infringed on her first amendment rights. She was subsequently told she could not return to work.

The new clause was as a result of a 2017 bill passed by the Texas legislature requiring that state agencies not do business with companies that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to boycott Israeli goods.

In December 2018, Amawi filed a lawsuit against her school district and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, seeking an injunction that would strike the “No boycott” clause from statewide school contracts.

According to CAIR, as a result of Pitman’s ruling, every “No Boycott of Israel” clause in every single state contract in Texas has been stricken as unconstitutional, and state Attorney General will no longer be allowed to include or enforce the clause in state contracts.