WHAT FREE SPEECH?
Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Lost Her Job for Refusing to Sign Pro-Israel Oath
Children’s speech pathologist Bahia Amawi is suing Texas AG and the school district that dismissed her after she refused to pledge loyalty to Israel.
Audrey McNamara
12.17.18 1:40 PM ET
A Texas educator says she was fired from her job working with speech-impaired elementary school students because she refused to sign a pledge of loyalty to Israel.
On Monday, The Intercept first reported, she sued the state and the school district that gave her the boot.
“Texas’s ban on contracting with any boycotter of Israel constitutes viewpoint discrimination that chills constitutionally-protected political advocacy in support of Palestine,” reads the lawsuit filed by children’s speech pathologist Bahia Amawi.
Amawi has worked with developmentally disabled, autistic, and speech-impaired elementary school students in Austin, Texas, for nine years, speaks three languages, and holds a master’s in her field.
The Pflugerville Independent School District included new language in their contracts this year requiring that employees “will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract,” and will refrain from any action “that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel, or with a person or entity doing business in Israeli or in an Israel-controlled territory.”
Amawi, an American citizen and mother of four, said she was prepared to renew until she noticed the new clause.
“Absolutely not. I couldn’t in good conscience do that. If I did, I would not only be betraying Palestinians suffering under an occupation that I believe is unjust, and thus become complicit in their repression, but I’d also be betraying my fellow Americans by enabling violations of our constitutional rights to free speech and to protest peacefully,” she told The Intercept.
more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-elementary-school-speech-pathologist-lost-her-job-for-refusing-to-sign-pro-israel-oath?via=newsletter&source=DDAfternoon
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