‘Hatred Rises Where BDS Is Present’: More Than 100 Rabbis Blast Portland, Maine, for Israel Divestment Vote

‘They can either do business with the BDS movement, or they can do business with the American Jewish community,’ rabbis write

More than 100 rabbis from across the country are blasting the left-wing city council of Portland, Maine, for voting to divest from Israel. The rabbis are urging their congregants to avoid the city “until such a repeal of the bigoted divestment takes effect.”

The letter, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, was signed by 114 rabbis in protest against Portland City Council’s unanimous Sept. 4 vote to divest from 85 companies doing business in Israel. Portland is home to one of the oldest and most historic Jewish communities on the East Coast, according to Rabbi Dovid Asher, one of the letter’s organizers.

“We, the undersigned, sign our names to publicly express our hurt and outrage at the City of Portland for their one-sided action against the State of Israel,” the letter states. “While we all love the State of Israel, this letter is not about our support for Israel, but rather to inform Maine’s largest city of the damage and the suffering they have caused to the American Jewish community.”

“Portland’s decision to align with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign only fuels the current surge of antisemitism that has overwhelmed our country,” the letter continues. “Hatred rises where BDS is present. Religious persecution is caused by the demonization and the delegitimization of minorities, often resulting in the targeting of the Jewish community.”

Councilor April Fournier introduced the resolution, which was sponsored by two anti-Israel groups: the Maine Coalition for Palestine and Maine’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Local leaders said the resolution was largely symbolic, but Portland’s finance director revealed that ahead of the vote, the city sold shares it held in a company that supplies Israel with screening technology used at military checkpoints, the Portland Press Herald reported.

“We want councils and any other entity to understand they can either do business with the BDS movement, or they can do business with the American Jewish community, who overwhelmingly support the State of Israel,” Asher told the Free Beacon. “We want folks to be aware that they have a choice where to do business, where to vacation, and that they shouldn’t be using their hard-earned money to go to places or ownerships where people pay taxes to cities that are anti-Israel.”

In the letter, the rabbis accused Portland of departing “from its natural order by taking sides in a horrific and bloody international conflict” and called on their congregants to avoid doing business with cities that codify “Jew-hatred into their by-laws by placing yet another yellow star on a Jewish entity.”

“We ask our memberships and all people of good conscience, who support the democratic racially-diverse leading ally of America in the Middle East, to avoid patronizing and financially contributing to the City of Portland until such a repeal of the bigoted divestment takes effect,” the letter states. “With apologies to all fair-minded Portlanders, we hope and pray these actions help restore your city to a more equitable tolerance for all peoples.”

Portland Mayor Mark Dion originally supported the resolution but later said he regretted his vote and apologized to the city’s Jewish community in October.

“My goal was a betrayal for the trust that Jewish people should expect from the mayor’s office,” Dion said. “They should not have to wonder whether city government will act to protect their best interests.”

On Tuesday, the city council in Belfast, also in Maine, voted to unanimously divest from the Jewish state. Three other cities have passed similar divestment resolutions: Hayward and Richmond in California, and Hamtramck, Mich.