BDS victory: US court blocks enforcing Texas anti-BDS law
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In a major victory, Palestinian-American citizen Rasmy Hassouna wins a suit he filed against Texas for imposing its anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions law.
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Palestinian-American civil engineer Rasmy Hassouna
On Friday, a US federal court blocked the state of Texas from enforcing its 2019 ban on boycotting "Israel" against Palestinian-American civil engineer and contractor Rasmy Hassouna.
The Palestinian-American citizen was about to renew his contract with the government before he noticed a legal clause that forbids him and his company A&R Engineering and Testing, Inc, from ever protesting "Israel" and its products as long as working for Houston, reported The Guardian.
Hassouna, 59, decided to take action and file a lawsuit against the Texas state law that bans government contractors from boycotting the Israeli occupation, which is the case in more than 25 US states, mentioned the newspaper.
"It is my right and duty to boycott 'Israel' and any products of 'Israel'," expressed Hassouna.
"This policy is against my constitutional right and against international law,” he added.
According to The Guardian, Hassouna's company is one out of only two companies to challenge such laws.
US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen blocked Texas from imposing its anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) law against the Hassouna.
A major victory for Palestine
In his ruling, the judge wrote that "speech — even speech that upsets other segments of the population — is protected by the First Amendment unless it escalates into violence and misconduct."
In a complaint, A&R Engineering and Testing, Inc attorneys wrote that "Texas’s ban on contracting with any boycotter of 'Israel' constitutes viewpoint discrimination that chills constitutionally protected political advocacy in support of Palestine."
For its part, the Council on American-Islamic Relations that have worked with Hassouna to file the lawsuit welcomed the ruling and expressed that it is "a major victory of the First Amendment against Texas’s repeated attempts to suppress speech in support of Palestine."
Bismillah. Major news out of Texas! A federal court just blocked the state from enforcing its anti-#BDS law against our client. This is another huge victory for both the First Amendment AND Palestinian human rights. Details in this thread... 1/10 #FreeSpeech #FreePalestine
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) January 29, 2022
The BDS Movement prides itself in being a “movement that works to end international support for
"Israel's" oppression of Palestinians and pressure it to comply with international law.”
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