Missouri artist Jacob Burmood refused an offer from a South Florida suburb to exhibit one of his abstract metal sculptures for $3,500 after discovering the contract prohibited him from "boycotting Israel."
Burmood, who described himself as an artist facing financial difficulties, stated that he could not sign in good faith because, upon reading the contract, "I found a clause requiring me to swear an oath to a foreign government, a government currently engaged in genocide, whose leaders have outstanding arrest warrants for war crimes. This clause is enshrined in law by several states in America. I asked for the clause to be removed, and they said it was impossible. I refused to sign it, and I will refuse to exhibit my work anywhere that tries to silence me or make me complicit in the crimes of the United States and Israel. My sculptures are for sale, but my morals are not."
