One hundred and ten rabbis from across the US announced a boycott of the city of Portland, Maine, demanding that the city renounce its BDS anti-Israel resolution. The rabbis, spearheaded by Rabbi Dovid Asher of Richmond, Va., also called on their communities not to do business with Portland until that occurs.
"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. 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. FBI statistics have repeatedly shown that more than one in two religious hate crimes are perpetrated against ethnic and religious Jews. 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.
"Given the absence of agenda items addressing the 120 other active conflicts around the world—such as the Russia-Ukraine war or the civil war in Sudan, where even more tragic innocent lives have been lost—it is very disheartening to see Portland focusing its criticism solely on Israel, a country grappling with the painful complexities of war and of defense against Iran's proxies. Every conflict, every civilian casualty, deserves attention and compassion. Rather than embracing a Jewish community still reeling from the shock of the heinous October 7th massacre and the aftershocks of record-high global antisemitic incidents, the Portland City Council has decided to set a double standard that inspires and encourages antisemitism across the United States."
"Whereas, the City of Portland has departed from its natural order by taking sides in a horrific and bloody international conflict, be it advised that we hereby call upon our congregants and constituencies to avoid doing business with any municipality that codifies Jew-hatred into their by-laws by placing yet another yellow star on a Jewish entity. The council resolution may also run afoul of anti-discrimination legislation and executive orders passed by 38 states, thereby risking termination of the ongoing contracts it has with them."
"Therefore, be it advised that we, the undersigned, call upon local leaders, who are in agreement with our position- such as the Portland Chamber of Commerce, Visit Portland, and Mayor Mark Dion - to sit down with the council members to explain why their deviation from normative practice to single out the Middle East’s only pluralistic, liberal republic has resulted in causing trauma and potentially incited violence towards a frequently marginalized faith community.
"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 repeal of the bigoted targeted divestment takes effect. 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."
