TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A self-described struggling artist from Missouri, Jacob Burmood says he could have used the $3,500 offered by a South Florida suburb to exhibit one of his abstract metal sculptures. But his heart “just sank” when he learned the city contract prohibited him from “engaging in a boycott of Israel.”
Burmood turned down the offer, saying he couldn’t sign in good faith “because that would normalize this type of language in contracts. And it would normalize what’s happening right now” in Gaza.
Florida is among more than 30 states that block government agencies from hiring companies that boycott Israel. Florida’s law has been on the books for years, yet as the 15-month Israel-Hamas war grinds on with no end in sight, it’s sparking concerns among some artists and advocates beyond the state’s borders.
Supporters of an economic boycott of Israel say the campaign uses nonviolence to resist what they say are Israel’s unjust policies toward Palestinians, comparing the strategy to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. Opponents say the campaign veers into antisemitism and aims to delegitimize Israel itself.
Burmood requested the city of Sunrise remove the anti-boycott language from the contract, but city staff told him it’s required by state law, according to emails shared with The Associated Press. A spokesperson for the city, Eric Lachs, told the AP that Sunrise “respects the decision of the artist to not participate in our art program.”
Les Gomez-Gonzalez, an artist based in Miami, said it “was not an option” to sign a similar contract for showing their work at a gallery in a building owned by the city of Pembroke Pines.
“This perpetuates the censorship of those standing in solidarity with Palestine, and manipulates access to adequate funding,” Gomez-Gonzalez said.
Shortly after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state stands with the key U.S. ally and emphasized “our commitment to Israel and our fight against anti-Israel sentiments.”
In the eyes of Lee Rowland, making artists affirm specific political statements is a violation of their First Amendment right to free expression. Rowland is the executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an advocacy group that has been tracking court challenges to laws banning the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign, or BDS.
“These kind of contract provisions absolutely violate the right to free expression,” she said, “because they condition a government contract on your political beliefs and behaviors.”
The governor’s press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, pushed back on that claim, saying Florida’s law deals with “conduct, not speech.”
Burmood said he has felt powerless watching the widespread destruction in Gaza — backed by a record $17.9 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel.
Refusing to sign Florida’s government contract in December was a small act of protest he could take from halfway across the world in St. Joseph, Missouri.
“I am not going to be silenced,” he said. “Whatever my tiny little voice can do, I’m going to use it.”
___ Associated Press writer David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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