Houston Suburb Won’t Give Hurricane Relief To BDS Supporters

Two men help remove items ruined by Hurricane Harvey’s flood damage from their friend’s home in Dickinson, Texas. Dickinson was hit by Hurricane Harvey extremely hard, with major flooding in many areas of the city. Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink October 19, 2017

A Houston suburb will not approve grants to repair homes or businesses damaged in Hurricane Harvey if the applicant supports boycotting Israel.

The city of Dickinson’s application form for storm damage repair funding includes a clause stating that “By executing this Agreement below, the Applicant verifies that the Applicant: (1) does not boycott Israel; and (2) will not boycott Israel during the term of this Agreement.”

No other clauses about political affiliations or beliefs are included in the form.

The state of Texas passed a law in May banning state entities from contracting with businesses that boycott Israel. The law, one of 21 passed in states around the country in the past few years, has been criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union as unconstitutional.

Local TV news station KTRK reported that the damage Dickinson received “may be the worst of Harvey,” with more than 50 inches of rain in 72 hours. The widely-distributed photo of residents of a nursing home waiting to be rescued as floodwater reached their waists was taken in Dickinson.

Calls to the offices of the mayor and the city secretary were not returned.

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected]

Aiden Pink is the Deputy News Editor for the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

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