Joining Forces With the State of Texas to Combat BDS

Shurat HaDin, together with Texas attorney, Jay M. Goldstein, has filed an Amicus Brief in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Texas, in the case of A&R Engineering and Testing, Inc. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas. A&R Engineering, a Palestinian-owned firm in Houston, sued to repeal the Texas law prohibiting the awarding of state contracts to companies that participated in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel, claiming it violated its First Amendment right of free speech to participate in economic boycotts as a form of protest. Initially, the district court found for A&R Engineering. The Texas Attorney General appealed. Shurat HaDin’s Amicus Brief exposed BDS as a discriminatory movement designed to delegitimize and eradicate Israel. The targeting of Jews and Israelis—especially with taxpayer-funded state contracts--solely because of their religion or national origin cannot be protected under First Amendment jurisprudence.