From August 26th to 29th, Hurricane Harvey battered the Texas coast, producing catastrophic flooding from the Houston area south to Galveston and east to the Golden Triangle. Rebuilding efforts have only just begun, and it will likely take years for the area to fully recover. The city of Dickinson, north of Galveston, was particularly hard hit.

However, due to a new state law (HB 89), backed by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, Dickinson is requiring anyone applying for aid in rebuilding to certify that they do not currently and will not in the future boycott the state of Israel. The ACLU has criticized this requirement as a violation of free speech rights.

While IfNotNow does not take a position on the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement, we know that support for BDS is not inherently antisemitic, and recognize that laws seeking to outlaw boycotts are anti-Democratic and seek to silence free speech. In this case, the law is being used to decide who is worthy of state funding for hurricane recovery, and who is not. In effect, those who do not unconditionally support Israel are being revictimized after already losing everything.

Political beliefs should not be a litmus test for disaster relief. The mayor of Dickinson, Julie Masters, must remove this clause from the city's aid applications.