PORTLAND, Maine — Months after the Portland City Council passed a resolution to divest from companies doing business with Israel, Jewish leaders from across the country are rallying behind an effort to reverse the decision.
A paid advertisement in the Portland Press Herald last week shows more than one hundred rabbis signing a letter calling for their congregations and "all people of good conscience" to "avoid patronizing and financially contributing to the City of Portland," until the resolution is repealed.
Rabbi Dovid Asher of Richmond, Virginia organized the effort. "For Jews who support Israel, Portland kind of stands out," he said Friday. "We want to spend hard-earned dollars where we're wanted and respected."
With Portland, and now Belfast, joining a small group of American cities in passing a resolution to cut financial ties with Israel, some in Maine's Jewish community say they're not surprised to see a new push to divest from Portland.
"To take action against the only Jewish state, it was bound to have ramifications," Jordan Cohen, an Israeli-American, said Friday. "It doesn't go unnoticed, and it hurts, and it makes people feel more and more marginalized at a time when we should be promoting dialog and harmony and respect."
The long list of rabbis listed named under Asher's letter are from across the United States and Canada, however no Jewish leader from Maine is included.
For Rabbi Levi Wilanksy of Chabad of Maine, the decision to keep some distance from the ad was intentional. "From the local community, they felt, perhaps let's not mix in directly with this and kind of stay out of that because there are bridges being made."
This comes weeks after Mayor Mark Dion reversed his position on the Israel divestment resolution, calling his earlier vote for it a "betrayal."
Mayor Dion could not be reached for comment on this story.
To others, the advertisement's push to divest from Portland runs in opposition to the work of many in Maine's Jewish community to bring about the Israel divestment resolution.
In a statement Friday, Leo Hilton of Jewish Voice For Peace wrote, in part, "This advertisement purposely ignores the fact that Portland Jews were instrumental in the drafting and passage of the city's historic resolution to divest from Israel's genocide of Palestinians… We reject this inflammatory message published in this advertisement, paid and supported by out-of-state interests."