Portland leaders say Israel divestment vote was symbolic, but it has divided the community

Sep. 19—Nearly two weeks after the Portland City Council voted unanimously to divest in 85 companies doing business in Israel, the community is still grappling with what the vote means.

City spokesperson Jessica Grondin said in an emailed statement that the while city staff plan to comply with the resolution, "no divestment is expected to occur." That's because, she wrote, the city doesn't have investments in any of the companies on the council's list.

However, when the resolution first came up in a committee meeting a couple of months ago, the city did have an investment connected to Israel. The city was gifted 105 shares in L3 Harris Technologies during a fundraising campaign a few years ago, according to the city's finance director, Brendan O'Connell. The company provides Israel with screening technology used at military checkpoints.

"When we brought this resolution forward, we realized it wasn't an investment we would usually have anyway, so we sold it," O'Connell said during the City Council meeting on Sept. 4. He said the shares were sold for about $23,000 a month earlier.

Including Portland, four U.S. cities have now voted to divest from companies doing business in Israel. Hayward and Richmond in California, and Hamtramck, Michigan, all voted to divest from Israel over the last few months, according to news reports in those cities.

Pressure has been mounting for the U.S. to distance itself from Israel and push for a ceasefire since the start of the war in Gaza almost a year ago when Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and abducting around 250 hostages. The federal government also has faced pressure to divest, as a way to pressure the country to stop attacking the Palestinian territories. The Gaza health ministry said on Monday that 41,226 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting.

O'Connell was not available this week to discuss Portland's investment strategies, but Terry Hayes, executive director of Maine Municipal Bond Bank, said it's common for cities to have money invested in stocks and bonds and that determining which investments might be connected to a particular country can be a challenge.

"Everything is so tied together," she said.

Usually, Hayes said, the money that municipalities invest is from excess funds that aren't being used in that year's budget. She said cities sometimes work with financial advisers to come up with an investment strategy that will yield higher returns, which, she said, is good for residents because it can lower taxes and bring more money into the city.

Hayes doesn't have any knowledge of Portland's specific investment strategy but said she thought it would be unlikely for the city to have significant holdings in companies doing business in Israel.

"It makes headlines, but I don't know that it makes a huge difference," she said of the divestment vote.

Mayor Mark Dion and Councilor Kate Sykes said that at the time of the vote, they believed the city had investments in those companies and that the vote was more than a symbolic gesture. Other city councilors did not respond to messages this week asking about their motives for supporting the resolution.

"We were trying to send a message. I know some of the critique was that it was performative," Dion said. "My vote was cast anticipating that it could have some effect. ... I guess on reflection, it's a high price to pay to create division and anxiety in the community."

Sykes said that even since learning that the city is not invested in any of the companies listed on the resolution, she still believes the resolution was worthwhile because it will prevent that type of investment in the future.

"It's not just about divesting, but it means not going forward with any new investments in these areas should they come," she said.

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The council's decision came late in the evening after nearly four hours of public comment, and some members of the Jewish community have said they felt blindsided because they only learned about it hours before it was put to a vote.

Sam Cohen, operations director for the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, said his organization was only informed the day before.

"That was deeply disappointing — that at no point leading up to the vote itself was anyone from the community brought in to be part of the process," he said.

In the two weeks since, Cohen said he has heard from some members of the Jewish community who are upset about the resolution.

"I don't know how much the City Council was aware of the repercussions of this vote. That's part of why it might have been helpful to have other people at the table to explain why this was so divisive," he said.

Cohen wishes the resolution had been more broadly about the city's investment strategy instead of singling out Israel.

Dion seemed to doubt his vote looking back, but ultimately, he stood by his decision to vote in favor of divestment along with the rest of the council.

But he said he wished he had gone to greater lengths to let the community know about the upcoming vote.

"As a mayor, I failed the process, period," he said.

Sykes said that the division in the community since the vote has been apparent.

"The pain that people are feeling around this is real," she said. "Regardless of how the vote went or what we think politically we still have to care for our community and that's really obvious to me. We could do better going forward in terms of bringing understanding on this issue."

That pain was clear at the City Council meeting Monday night, when several people who spoke during the general public comment period said the resolution had divided Portland.

"I wonder why a resolution passed — that would make people in our community feel so uncomfortable — on something that is international politics, when I think the City Council should be representing our local population," Sharon Shabro said.

Shoshanna Holz said her synagogue has hired a security company out of fear about rising antisemitism.

"You have added to the pain by deepening divisions within our community and making some of us feel like we don't belong here," Holz said.

A spokesperson for the Portland Police Department said there has been no rise in any type of crime since the vote.

On the other side, leaders with Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization that is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, said they were satisfied with the council's vote, even if it was just symbolic.

"We're proud of our city for showing that we value human life and justice, and for backing those values with meaningful action," organizers wrote in an email. "This resolution further commits the city to not investing in companies complicit in the occupation and genocide of Palestinians."

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