Arkansas law requires state-owned companies to pledge not to boycott Israel must be the subject of a court challenge

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) – Lawyers in an Arkansas newspaper on Friday asked a federal judge to block a law requiring that contractors undertake not to boycott Israel, saying it requires companies to give up their freedom of expression to be able to receive money from the state .

District Judge Brian Miller heard arguments in the lawsuit filed by the Arkansas Times against the state's 2017 anti-boycott law. Miller said he hoped to be able to rule soon on the opportunity to block the law, which the Times and the American Civil Liberties Union consider unconstitutional. The law requires contractors to reduce their fees by 20% if they do not sign the undertaking.

According to the Times' complaint, the Technical University of Arkansas Pulaski refused to sign an advertising contract with the newspaper unless the Arkansas Times signed it. . The newspaper is not engaged in a boycott against Israel.

"It encourages the plaintiff to subscribe to the idea that the government can make sure that a person takes a political stance as a condition of obtaining money," Bettina Brownstein, ACLU Attorney

The state argued that the boycott was not a constitutionally protected speech and that this commitment did not force the Times to adopt a political stance.

"This merely certifies a factual statement indicating whether the Times intends to boycott or not," said Deputy Attorney General Dylan Jacobs.

The law of Arkansas is similar to the restrictions adopted in other states that have been challenged. The measures target a protest movement against Israeli policy towards Palestinians

In September, a federal judge prevented Arizona from implementing a similar measure. A federal judge also prevented Kansas from enforcing its anti-boycott measure, but lawmakers have rewritten the measure so that it no longer applies to individuals and non-profit organizations, but only to state contracts worth $ 100,000 or more. The Arkansas law applies to contracts of a value equal to or greater than $ 1,000.

A federal lawsuit was filed last month against a similar law in Texas.