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On November 29th, 2023, well after the start of Israel's latest brutal assault on Gaza, City Council passed the most recent resolution approving the city's Investment Policy. The Investment Policy does not explicitly permit the purchase of any other foreign government bonds besides those issued by Israel.

We demand that the City of Houston Controllers Office and City Council immediately amend its investment policy to remove any authorization to invest funds into Israel bonds.

Historically, the City of Houston has invested millions in Israeli bonds. Israeli bonds have been held in the city's investment portfolio dating back to 2014 and possibly even earlier.

The details:
The City of Houston purchased $10 million worth of Israeli bonds in August 2021. These bonds matured in August of 2023.

The timing of the purchase, however, is notable. In May 2021, the state of Israel conducted a campaign to "systematically dispossess Palestinians of their lands and homes" in East Jerusalem, a territory Israel has illegally occupied since 1967.

When Palestinians protested against this campaign, Israel responded with brutal and disproportionate force, resulting in thousands of casualties. Barely 3 months after this murderous campaign, the City of Houston chose to support Israel with the purchase of $10 million in bonds.

This isn't the first time. Our investigation confirms earlier purchases. City financial reports as early as 2014 show millions of dollars invested in Israel bonds. In 2017, City Controller Chris Brown was hosted by Del to speak about the city's investments in Israel bonds.

Houston City Council is claiming the City does not hold any more Israel bonds but the investment was listed on the most recent Quarterly Investment report available online. Even more, the Controller's Office has not disclosed additional details of these earlier purchases despite a public information request submitted almost 2 months ago.

Join the efforts to tell City Council and Houston Controller's office that Israeli Bonds are not "suitable" investments for the City of Houston.

For updates and more information on our engagement with Houston City Council, you can follow us at @htx4palestinianliberation (instagram) and other pertinent links here.