PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — As a Jewish visitor to Maine, I am anxious to seek ways to divest from the city of Portland since its City Council voted to divest from up to 85 companies conducting business with Israel. We must wonder how this measure will harm Israel because Portland does not currently hold investments in even one of these companies.
Council member April Fournier’s resolution calls for the city manager to divest from “all entities complicit in the current and ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and occupation of Palestine.” Those entities cover all those “assisting Israel in the oppression of the Palestinian people.”
Before council members could cast their votes last week, city finance director Brendan O’Connell alerted them that the city does not currently hold investments in any companies on the list, though it has previously, according to The Boston Globe.
This makes the headline “Portland Maine divests” above a self-serving news release false and delusional. There are no investments to divest. The report was a version of the “historic” action found on the website of Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights.
I have visited Maine a half-dozen times and hope to return with the intention of staying in Portland, a charming and convenient coastal city which is the most populous city in Maine. Portland is home to many of the 6,000 or more Jews from the Portland region.
People will suggest that I can punish Portland by vacationing elsewhere in Maine or visit some other state or country. That is a nonstarter. If you visit Maine once, you must return. Maine is that magnetic. While Maine is an enormous land mass geographically, I much prefer Portland for its convenience, its urban presence, available hotels, ferry rides, restaurants and many other amenities.
All I can think to do in divesting from Portland is to inquire about hotels outside the city’s borders.
The resolution urges divestment “when it is feasible and carries no financial penalty to the City,” according to the Globe. It also asks the city manager not to make future investments “in any entities complicit” in the war in Gaza or “in the Israeli military in the form of Israel Bonds.”
Portland is the fifth American city to pass a divestment resolution, following Hamtramck, Mich., and Alameda, Hayward and Richmond in northern California.
All nine Council members slapped their Jewish neighbors and constituents in the face because of the one-sided nature of the pro-Palestinian protests. Israel’s response to Oct. 7 is distressing, but City Council blissfully ignores the terrorists who colluded in massacring 1,200 Israelis in southern Israel and kidnapping 250 others. Iran supplies arms to terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen. Hamas murdered the Israelis and forces its own people to serve as human shields, and the other terrorist groups have fired rockets at Israel. All these parties share a vision for destroying Israel.
The scariest aspect is that the vote was unanimous. Some of their comments require translation. We can only interpret what some council members were talking about at the Sept. 4 meeting.
Fournier, the resolution’s sponsor, said, “We acknowledge that members of our community are directly impacted by the ongoing violence that’s happening, and we have a duty to voice our concerns and take steps that we can control on the local level.”
The resolution does not mention “control on the local level” of the ongoing detention of the 60 or more Israeli hostages. How is she so sure that no Jewish Portlanders “are directly impacted by the ongoing violence?”
Kate Fishman told council that her daughter was a friend of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered by Hamas days before the Portland meeting.
Council members made assumptions about the thinking of Israeli leaders. “I can appreciate the desire for retribution,” said Mayor Mark Dion, as quoted in Portland’s Press Herald.
Retribution? Israel may well be vengeful in attacking Gaza, but how would he know this for certain? I do not understand the scope of Israeli bombing of Gaza, where the health ministry said more than 40,000 Palestinians have died, and it is reckless to reach conclusions without benefit of the facts.
Acknowledging the conflict’s complexity, Councilor Anna Trevorrow said, “The best that we can do is live by our morals and hope that we create a ripple effect that others can follow to create compassion in our community, so I’ll be supporting this tonight.”
If Trevorrow is worried about morals, we can wonder how “a ripple effect” will be received by Iran, where many of its people would delight in regime change. Trevorrow could have suggested that a vote on the resolution be deferred until they could devise more balanced legislation.
Some Jewish residents denounced the resolution as helping Hamas regroup, jeopardizing the jobs of 7,000 Portlanders and making Portland an unwelcome place to live. Or visit.
The Portland resolution should be challenged, and I can think of ways to do that. First, demand that City Council revoke the divestment resolution and replace it with a resolution that addresses the real or perceived sins of all parties.
If the more reasonable council members do not try, then individuals and organizations can ask state officials, tourism agencies and business groups to intervene. Plus, we can complain to hotels and their corporate owners along with other businesses to pressure council members to reconsider.
Council member Victoria Pelletier made the point that she received 3,000 emails about the resolution prior to the meeting, presumably in support. That leaves more than 65,000 residents to chime in. Portland’s population is nearing the 69,000 mark.
Those 3,000 emails likely reflect an Israel-bashing faction with an aggressive agenda. My educated guess is that most Portlanders are too consumed by their own lives and local issues to be concerned about a conflict more than 5,000 miles away. Council took sides in a foreign matter that most Americans do not understand, as if Portland’s politicians have nothing else to worry about.
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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.