I am writing to support the Portland City Council’s recent decision to divest from Israeli investments until there is a cessation of the constant lethal attacks on Gaza and the West Bank/Palestine that have become a genocide, according to the courts of the United Nations.

The headline of a recent article said that the decision by the City Council divided the city. I dispute this. There is widespread support for an end to the Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza, and the West Bank, both the people and the property. Of course there are some who say that Israel is justified in this because of the events of Oct. 7.

The large majority of U.S. citizens, people of Maine and, we believe, the city of Portland, disagree with that view. All violence, especially lethal violence, is reprehensible. Once it occurs, responsible parties have a grave responsibility to stop it in its tracks. The lethal violence directed at Israel was stopped. The lethal violence on Gaza and the West Bank by Israel/Netanyahu and subsidized by the U.S. government goes on unabated for almost a year. This is unacceptable to the large majority of U.S. adults/voters.

Portland City Council acted responsibly and appropriately by its vote to reject this set of circumstances in a peaceful way. Portland City Council has set a moral standard for all governmental entities in the U.S. and the world. It has acted in the best tradition of Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Ed Ferreira
New Sharon