As a parent who is considering sending their child to college in Maine, I am shocked by the Portland City Council’s antisemitic resolution on divestment from Israel. The council has been swayed by radical groups that call for the destruction of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East; they have been promoting divestment for years.

The vast majority of Jews support Israel’s right to exist. The council has never voted to divest from any other country, only Israel – the single Jewish state in the world and the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.

The council did not seek a resolution condemning the terrorist organization Hamas after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust on Oct. 7, 2023, including infants, children and the elderly, which has been called “Israel’s 9/11.” The council’s divestment resolution also ignores the dozens of Israeli hostages (including several Americans) still held by Hamas.

Peace in the region depends upon Jews and Palestinians coming together, not on people driving them apart and supporting one over the other. The resolution should be repealed, and the entire council should attend antisemitism training approved by the local Jewish Community Alliance. The action of the council has made me wonder, why has Portland chosen to abandon its Jewish citizens? And would Maine be a safe place for my child to live?

Karen Fine
Shrewsbury, Mass.