No one is afraid anymore of "Jew-hating" and "Antisemitic" accusations. They've been so used and abused that they don't stick any longer to honest, moral critics - including many Jews - of Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Palestine.
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Portland City Council votes to divest from companies doing business with Israel
Emma Davis
Thu, September 5, 2024
Demonstrators, led by the Maine Coalition for Palestine, protest at a General Dynamics factory in Saco, Maine on Jan. 3, 2024. (courtesy of Schaible, Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights)
Portland’s city council adopted a resolution Wednesday night urging the city to divest from companies doing business with Israel in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The city council unanimously approved the resolution — put forth by councilor April Fournier and sponsored by the Maine Coalition for Palestine and Maine’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace — in a packed chamber following more than three hours of public comment. Councilors also said individually that they’d received thousands of emails from constituents regarding the resolution.
More than 80 companies are included in the divestment list, including the major corporations Volvo, Boeing, Chevron and Intel, which the resolution calls complicit in Israel’s violation of international law.
Citing investigations by the United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations, the resolution states these companies provide Israel with military equipment used in Gaza, contribute to the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements, and enable or profit from the ongoing Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
Portland residents largely made pleas to the council to support the resolution, particularly pointing to the deaths of Palestinian children. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the death toll from Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has reached 40,861, many of whom were children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
“It is not antisemitic to divest from any company or other entity that is profiting from the murder of children,” said Abby Alfred, a Portland resident who is Jewish.
While the council’s decision was ultimately unanimous, some councilors wavered in their support ahead of the vote. At-large councilor Roberto Rodriguez had questioned whether it was the council’s place to weigh in on this issue, but on Wednesday said he wholeheartedly believed the council was within its right to take a stance and supported the resolution without any reservations.
Portland Mayor Mark Dion, who is a former police officer and sheriff, said he thought Israel had a right to defend itself but also ultimately supported the resolution.
“It doesn’t diminish the criminality of what Hamas perpetrated on Israelis,” Dion said, adding “the police officer in me understands if you could bring them to justice they should be brought to justice and that’s how we prove we’re superior to them.”
The resolution will remain in effect as long as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the violations of human rights and international law continue.
In a statement following the vote, the Maine Coalition for Palestine also urged Mainers to individually join the divestment effort. “Our tax money should not be spent killing women and children in Palestine,” the statement read. “Our elected officials in Congress no longer represent the views of a majority of us seeking change, so this is also a message to them.”
The council’s action Wednesday comes after it unanimously passed a resolution earlier this year calling on President Joe Biden and Maine’s congressional delegation to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. That resolution also urged “an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring the unhindered free flow of humanitarian access.”
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