Portland council votes to divest from companies doing business in Israel

The Portland City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to divest from companies doing business in Israel, taking the step after more than 3 hours of public comment from a large and emotional crowd.

The council chambers and overflow rooms were completely full as members of the public spoke about the resolution brought forth by Councilor April Fournier that targets Chevron, Volvo, Boeing and 82 other companies.

When the council passed the resolution following a brief deliberation that came after 3  1/2  hours of public comment, the council chambers erupted in applause and several people burst into tears.

Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and abducting around 250 hostages. The New York Times reported Tuesday that 60 living hostages and bodies of 35 others remain in Gaza.

The Gaza health ministry said last week that 40,861 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting since Israel retaliated to Hamas's attack.

Councilor Anna Trevorrow spoke in support of the resolution. She acknowledged the complexity of the conflict between Israel and Hamas but said she feels responsible for doing what good she can when she has the opportunity.

"The best that we can do is to 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," Trevorrow said.

Councilor Victoria Pelletier also spoke in support of divestment after revealing that before the meeting, she had received more than 3,000 emails about the proposal.

"As we continue forward with our energy and our activism, I want to make sure I always acknowledge and list these other areas that are very deserving of our attention as well," she said, mentioning humanitarian crises in Haiti, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In favor of divestment 

Mayor Mark Dion also spoke in support of divestment.

"I see a government that had every right to defend (itself), and I can appreciate the desire for retribution ... but as I would, as a police officer, I think our role collectively is to grab their shoulder and say, 'It's enough, it's simply enough,' and pull them away," said Dion, a former Portland police officer and Cumberland County sheriff.

In January, the Portland City Council unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the United States government call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. That resolution, brought forth by Councilor Pious Ali, was sent to President Biden and Maine's congressional delegation.

Tensions were high on Wednesday with some members of the public crying while giving public comment and applause breaking out multiple times.

Jenna Wolfinger, a Portland resident, argued before the council during public comment that the resolution shouldn't be viewed as picking a side. She supported the resolution.

"It's not picking a side to divest from war and genocide. It's picking a side to invest in war and genocide," she said.David Klein, who run's Wex's venture capital fund and is Jewish, spoke in opposition to the resolution, arguing it would hurt Jewish Portlanders.

"This singles out Israel among all the nations for censure and divestment," he said. "You're making this a place that people like me don't want to live because you're saying you want to single out the Jew among nations."

Dean Halid, a Palestinian Portlander who said he owns a business in the city, spoke in support of the resolution."I am pleading with you to make sure that none of my tax contributions are ever used to fund the extermination of my ethnic group," he said. "What Israel is doing now is genocide."

Abby Alfred, a Jewish Portlander, spoke in support of the resolution.

Is this antisemitism?

"It is not antisemitic to divest from any company or other entity that is profiting from the murder of children," she said. "It is the least we can do."

About an hour into public comment, a commenter spoke directly to Dion asking him to use gender neutral language when addressing people participating in public comment.

About thirty minutes later, Dion left his post presiding over the council and closed the door to chambers after someone outside the door began clapping. This came after multiple reminders from Dion that council rules bar any clapping, booing or other similar expressions from the public.

Dion later apologized for addressing speakers as "Sir" and "Ma'am" and thanked the member of the public who had asked him to use gender neutral language. For the rest of the meeting he referred to commenters as "speaker" rather than "Sir" or "Ma'am."

The council also voted unanimously on Wednesday night to renew the lease agreement with the Portland Seadogs for the use of Hadlock Stadium. The new lease gives the team the space until Sept. 30, 2038. The lease allows the team to invest up to $10 million in stadium improvements during that time to remain compliant with league requirements.

Steven Brinn, past president of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, slammed the decision, telling  the Post that "As a Portland native, I’ve never been so disappointed and  upset and embarrassed by a decision made by the city council as I am by last night’s totally misguided, racist, uninformed and divisive  vote on divestiture on Israel."

"In this time of rampant antisemitism, I am saddened that the city of Portland leaders have decided to inflame the situation even more and have become so hateful and one-sided instead of trying to unite us," he said. "It’s shameful that none of them could take the time to educate themselves on this issue before voting."