(The Center Square ) – After the San Marcos City Council introduced a resolution calling for an arms embargo against Israel, demanding the release of what they city said were pro-Hamas hostages, Gov. Greg Abbott informed them that the council could be in violation of state law. Abbott also launched an investigation to potentially strip state funding from the city in accordance with state law.
A vote on the resolution is scheduled for May 6. Prior to a recent discussion about the city resolution, state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, who represents the city, warned that adopting the resolution would put the city’s state funding at risk, saying, “Texas firmly rejects support for entities aligning with instability and terror.”
The resolution does not condemn the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel or demand the release of hostages who remain in captivity for nearly 600 days. Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization that controls the West Bank and Gaza Strip, historically known as Judea and Samaria, which the San Marcos City Council argues is “occupied” by Israel.
Hamas continues to hold up to 59 hostages, although fewer than half are believed to still be alive. Four American hostages were killed by Hamas. One reportedly remains alive, 21-year-old Edan Alexander.
The San Marcos City Council makes no mention of Alexander or Americans killed by Hamas.
Instead, the officials declared their support for “Palestinian human rights” and “call for an end to U.S. complicity in human rights violations abroad.” They also claim Israel has “continually bombarded” Gaza, “assaulted the West Bank,” displaced Palestinians for 77 years through the “illegal occupation of their land” and “186,000 Palestinians had been killed since Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.”
After going forward with the resolution, Abbott sent a letter to the city council stating, “Israel is a stalwart ally of the United States and a friend to Texas.
“I have repeatedly made clear that Texas will not tolerate antisemitism. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies. Over a year ago, following Hamas’s cowardly attack and campus disruptions openly celebrating terrorism, I issued an executive order addressing antisemitism in higher education. I have proudly signed legislation prohibiting government entities from supporting efforts to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel. That remains the law here.”
Abbott said that under the law, San Marcos officials are required to certify that they will comply with all state laws when they enter into grant agreements with the state, including state law that prohibits any Texas government entity from supporting boycotts of Israel. His office is now reviewing any grants the city has with his office to determine what funding to pull. “If the city adopts the antisemitic resolution, the Office of the Governor will immediately terminate all active grants not in compliance with state law” and any future grant applications will be denied, he said. He also directed other state agencies to review agreements with the city for a possible breach.
The city council’s “public expression of a desire to do what state law prohibits is unacceptable,” Abbott said.
The San Marcos resolution cites organizations like the United Nations as an arbiter of human rights when the entity has allocated billions of dollars to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamic terrorist organization.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a bill to strip international organizations’ immunity from lawsuits that provide material support to designated terror groups that commit violent acts against Americans. His bill would allow American victims of terrorism to sue international organizations that provide resources to terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), The Center Square reported.
Cruz also argued on the one-year-anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks that those calling for a ceasefire were siding with “genocidal maniacs,” The Center Square reported.
Cruz is one of two Texas Republican members of Congress, both Hispanic Christians, who’ve been targeted by pro-Hamas protestors, The Center Square reported.
