Applicants for Hurricane Harvey relief grants for the storm-battered city of Dickinson are asked as part of the terms of the agreement to not boycott Israel, a move the ACLU has called unconstitutional.
The city began accepting applications Oct. 11 for grants to rebuild homes or businesses damaged in the storm that made landfall Aug. 25. The grant money was donated to the Dickinson Harvey Relief Fund.
“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,” the form states.
ACLU of Texas Legal Director Andre Segura called the requirement “an egregious violation of the First Amendment” and said it was reminiscent of “McCarthy-era loyalty oaths requiring Americans to disavow membership in the Communist Party and other forms of ‘subversive’ activity.”
“The First Amendment protects Americans’ right to boycott, and the government cannot condition hurricane relief or any other public benefit on a commitment to refrain from protected political expression,” Segura said in a written statement.
The language is reflective of a law passed in the last legislative session that prohibits all state agencies from contracting with or investing in companies that boycott Israel. The law, which is similiar to laws in at least a dozen other states, took effect Sept. 1.
In January 2016, Gov. Greg Abbott met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and said that he wanted legislators to work to approve such a ban.
When he signed the bill into law in May he said that “any anti-Israel policy is an anti-Texas policy.”
The Dallas Morning News
