Portland City Council votes to divest from companies doing business with Israel • Maine Morning Star

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. 

Meanwhile, some Jewish residents called divestment an antisemitic action and urged the council to focus on the city’s problems instead. “This is not your issue,” one speaker said.

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.” 

Along that vein, Dion said he was encouraged that the U.S. Justice Department announced terrorism charges against senior leaders of Hamas this week.

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.” 

Victoria Pelletier, councilor for District 2, had spoken about the history of oppression during consideration of the last resolution and on Wednesday reiterated a need to not limit focus to Israel. 

“There are horrific acts of violence that are also happening in the Congo, in Sudan and in Haiti as well,” Pelletier said. “So as we continue forward with our energy and our activism I want to make sure that I always name and list these other areas that are very much deserving as well of outrage and resources and support and our attention.”