I had w wonderful high school math teacher who actually had me understanding
math, and he lost his job because of that terrible policy. It ruined his life.
And he was such a fantastic teacher, working in one of the most difficult
schools in New York City.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2019 7:40 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Fired School Employee Sues Over Israel Loyalty
Oath
How well I remember those, "bad old days of McCarthyism".
That piece of paper shoved under the nose of teachers, professors and public
servants, "I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party".
It made no difference that for many years the Communist Party had been listed
along with the Republican and Democratic Parties, and all the array of lessor
parties.
My parents belonged during the 30's and the early 40's. But I doubt that the
CP ever had as many members as the KKK.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/2/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Fired School Employee Sues Over Israel Loyalty Oath January 2, 2019
A Texas school employee has sued her school district because it fired
her after she refused to sign a loyalty oath to Israel, as Marjorie
Cohn reports.
By Marjorie Cohn
Truthout
In a return to the bad old days of McCarthyism, Bahia Amawi, a U.S.
citizen of Palestinian descent, lost her Texas elementary school job
after refusing to pledge in writing that she would not participate in
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Earlier this
month, Amawi sued the school district that fired her.
The BDS movement against Israel has become a hot button issue in the
closing month of 2018. A bipartisan group of senators tried to attach
the Israel Anti-Boycott Act to the unanimous spending bill that Trump
almost signed to avoid the current government shutdown. Meanwhile,
Donorbox, a US software company, blocked the BDS fundraising account
at the behest of a pro-Israel group.
"The language of the affirmation Amawi was told she must sign reads
like Orwellian - or McCarthyite - self-parody, the classic political
loyalty oath that every American should instinctively shudder upon
reading," Glenn Greenwald wrote at The Intercept.
Amwai: Knows firsthand oppression. (DemocracyNow/YouTube)
On Dec. 12, the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a lawsuit
on Amawi's behalf in the US District Court for the Western District of
Texas against Pflugerville Independent School District, alleging that
Texas' law requiring the oath violates the First Amendment. Amawi's
complaint says the law constitutes an impermissible attempt "to impose
an ideological litmus test or compel speech related to government
contractors' political beliefs, associations, and expressions."
Amawi had contracted with the school district for nine years to work
with students with autism and developmental disabilities in Austin.
This fall, for the first time, Amawi was required to sign an oath that
she would not boycott Israel. When she refused to sign it, she was fired.
"The point of boycotting any product that supports Israel is to put
pressure on the Israeli government to change its treatment, the
inhumane treatment, of the Palestinian people," Amawi explained.
"Having grown up as a Palestinian, I know firsthand the oppression and
the struggle that Palestinians face on a daily basis."
BDS
The BDS movement was launched by representatives of Palestinian civil
society in 2005, calling upon "international civil society
organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose
broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel
similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era .
[including] embargoes and sanctions against Israel."
This call specified that "these non-violent punitive measures" should
last until Israel fully complies with international law by (1) ending
its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the
barrier wall; (2) recognizing the fundamental rights of the
Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and (3)
respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian
refugees to return to their land as stipulated in United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 194.
Even though it is a nonviolent movement, Israel sees BDS as a threat
to its hegemony over the Palestinians. Israel illegally occupies
Palestinian territories, maintaining effective control over Gaza's
land, airspace, seaport, electricity, water, telecommunications and
population registry.
Israel deprives Gazans of food, medicine, fuel and basic services, and
continues to build illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied
West Bank.
Vikomerson: No progress without pressure on Israel. (Twitter)
"There will not be progress toward a just peace without pressure on
Israel to respect Palestinian rights," said Rebecca Vilkomerson,
executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace. "Bringing about that
pressure, through a global grassroots mobilization, is exactly what
BDS is about."
After Amawi's firing, The New York Times editorial board wrote,
"It's not just Israel's adversaries who find the [BDS] movement appealing.
Many devoted supporters of Israel, including many American Jews,
oppose the occupation of the West Bank and refuse to buy products of
the settlements in occupied territories. Their right to protest in
this way must be vigorously defended."
Omar Barghouti, co-founder of BDS, said in an email to The New York
Times, "Having lost many battles for hearts and minds at the
grass-roots level, Israel has adopted since 2014 a new strategy to
criminalize support for BDS from the top" in order to "shield Israel from
accountability."
Barghouti called Shurat HaDin, the group behind the Donorbox action
blocking the BDS account, a "repressive organization with clear
connections to the far-right Israeli government" that is "engaging in
McCarthyite . tactics .
in a desperate attempt to undermine our ability to challenge Israel's
regime of apartheid and oppression."
Twenty-six U.S. states have anti-BDS laws and 13 others are pending.
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which would have to be reintroduced when
the new Congress convenes in January, was supported by Senate
Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer.
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Dianne Feinstein
(D-California) opposed the bill.
Boycotts' 1st Amendment Protection
The law that triggered Amawi's firing prohibits the State of Texas
from entering into government contracts with companies, including sole
proprietorships, that boycott Israel. It defines "boycott Israel" to
include "refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with,
or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict
harm on, or limit commercial relations specifically with Israel, or
with a person or entity doing business in Israel or in an
Israeli-controlled territory."
Boycotts are a constitutionally protected form of speech, assembly and
association. They have long been used to oppose injustice and urge
political change. The Supreme Court has held that "speech on public
issues occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment
values, and is entitled to special protection." The high court ruled
that advocating and supporting boycotts "to bring about political,
social, and economic change" - like boycotts of Israel - are
indisputably protected by the First Amendment.
The National Lawyers Guild, Palestine Legal and the Center for
Constitutional Rights wrote in a legal memorandum challenging anti-BDS
legislation in New York that such laws "harken back to the McCarthy
era when the state sought to deny the right to earn a livelihood to
those who express controversial political views." The memo says, "The
courts long ago found such McCarthy-era legislation to be at war with
the First Amendment," as they "unconstitutionally target core
political speech activities and infringe on the freedom to express
political beliefs."
Barghouti: McCarthyite tactics. (YouTube/BBC)
Even staff members at the right-wing Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
opposed anti-BDS laws and admitted they are unconstitutional. Although
the leadership officially favors outlawing BDS, ADL staff wrote in an
internal
2016 memo that anti-BDS laws divert "community resources to an
ineffective, unworkable, and unconstitutional endeavor."
Greenwald cited the grave danger anti-BDS laws pose to freedom of
speech, tweeting, "The proliferation of these laws - where US citizens
are barred from work or contracts unless they vow not to boycott
Israel - is the single greatest free speech threat in the US."
Demonstrating the incongruity of allowing Amawi to boycott any entity
but Israel, Greenwald noted, "In order to continue to work, Amawi
would be perfectly free to engage in any political activism against
her own country, participate in an economic boycott of any state or
city within the US, or work against the policies of any other
government in the world - except Israel."
The US government remains Israel's lap dog on the world stage. On
December
5
the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution
calling for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
The United States opposed the resolution.
Meanwhile, the BDS movement continues to achieve victories. After more
than
24,000 people complained to HSBC, the banking giant pulled out its
investments in Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. Elbit sells
military equipment, including drones, aircraft, artillery and weapon
control systems to the Israeli army, US Air Force and British Royal
Air Force. It also provides surveillance equipment to the US Customs
and Border Protection agency.
On the legal front, the ACLU has mounted successful court challenges
to anti-BDS laws in Kansas and Arizona and has filed litigation in
Arkansas and Texas.
Copyright Truthout. Reprinted with permission.
Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law,
former president of the National Lawyers Guild, deputy secretary
general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and an
advisory board member of Veterans for Peace. Her latest book, Drones
and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues, was
recently published in an updated second edition.
