
School Contractor in Texas Denied Work Over Pro-Israel Loyalty Oath - deogeo
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/
======
wuxb
Isn't that obvious that the oath is against the 1st amendment? Can't believe
this.

~~~
adrianmonk
It probably _isn 't_ constitutional, but the process is that things don't get
actually declared unconstitutional until someone with standing (this woman who
lost her job) sues and the courts decide the question.

And that's exactly what she's doing. The lawsuit names the 1st and 14th
Amendments in its cause of action, says that political speech is important,
and that there's Supreme Court precedent that boycotts count as political
speech.

Then it asks the judge to declare the law unconstitutional and unenforceable.
As well as some other stuff like declaring void such provisions in existing
contracts, issuing an injunction against including the provision in future
contracts, etc.

~~~
bb88
> until someone with standing...

Unfortunately that isn't proven in this case, because proving that a person
has standing can be an entire legal fight unto itself.

First, arguably she's a contractor because she's signed a contract with the
state of Texas. So she has to argue that protections of the first and
fourteenth amendments extend to contractors. That's not necessarily a given.

Second, it's a state issue, not necessarily a federal issue. IOW, she has to
prove the federal constitution amendments are applicable to a state contract.

Third, it must be that she was not hired due to the pro-israel loyalty
language, and not for any other reason.

That's just the standing.

Then she has to prove that the language actually violates the first and
fourteenth amendment, and it's unclear that it does.

~~~
mcphage
I don’t find your other arguments particularly compelling, but this one is
definitely wrong:

> Third, it must be that she was not hired due to the pro-israel loyalty
> language, and not for any other reason.

She had already been hired, and worked for several years. The loyalty clause
was then added, and she lost her job due to being unwilling to sign that
clause. She has plenty of evidence that it was due to not signing (ie, her
boss tried to get around her having to sign it, but was forced to conclude
that it was unavoidable).

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hirundo
Weird, in the article there's an image of the affirmation in Texas code. The
second section has definitions, and the second definition starts:

> 2\. "Company" means a ...

But the word "company" isn't used elsewhere in that image, so why are they
defining it?

Maybe the affirmation image is clipped in such a way to remove the use of that
word. Or maybe the law was really that shoddily written.

------
rendall
It's from the Intercept. While I like Glenn Greenwald's reporting on many
things, when it comes to Israel he has quite a bee in his bonnet, so to speak.
I would take this with a grain of salt until it is verified by another source.

~~~
deogeo
[https://www.texastribune.org/2018/12/17/Bahia-Amawi-
pflugerv...](https://www.texastribune.org/2018/12/17/Bahia-Amawi-pflugerville-
israel-texas/)

[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-
politic...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-
politics/texas-speech-pathologist-fired-sign-israel-palestine-pledge-anti-bds-
intercept-a8688031.html)

[https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/texas-speech-pathologist-
fir...](https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/texas-speech-pathologist-fired-for-
refusing-to-pledge-not-to-boycott-israel-1.6750517)

[https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-elementary-school-
speech...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-elementary-school-speech-
pathologist-lost-her-job-for-refusing-to-sign-pro-israel-oath)

[https://www.timesofisrael.com/kentucky-bars-state-
contractor...](https://www.timesofisrael.com/kentucky-bars-state-contractors-
from-involvement-in-israel-boycotts/)

[https://unitedwithisrael.org/kentucky-becomes-26th-us-
state-...](https://unitedwithisrael.org/kentucky-becomes-26th-us-state-to-
pass-anti-bds-law/)

[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/anti-bds-
legislation](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/anti-bds-legislation)

Will these do?

~~~
rendall
Indeed! Yes. Thank you.

Also: [https://arcdigital.media/is-texas-willing-to-violate-the-
con...](https://arcdigital.media/is-texas-willing-to-violate-the-constitution-
in-order-to-support-israel-2c4178be89f1?sk=e5007f66f3e57057349355071e1ba4a0)

------
abrown28
Asking to affirm you are not boycotting and will not boycott Israel is a far
cry from a "Pro-Israel Loyalty Oath".

~~~
williamstein
Companies that do business with Texas have to sign an agreement that includes
that statement about Israel. It's part of Texas's standard agreement with
vendors...

------
Protostome
So sad, but how is it related to HN?

------
SpikeDad
How could this possibly be Constitutional? I can understand how Conservatives
in those state are co-opted by Right Wing Religious groups.

Reading this article made me physically ill.

~~~
jimktrains2
How have so many states, including my own, pass something so obviously
unconstitutional as well.

~~~
marak830
Lack of accountability pops into my mind. I'm not American but I'm absolutely
shocked that this happened over there. Although as time goes on, that shock is
becoming less common unfourtanetly.

