With a Tenuous Ceasefire in Gaza, Portland Councilors Pledge to Investigate the City's Links to Israel

"The pledge, which was launched by the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and its four city council members, calls on the city of Portland to investigate whether weapons and surveillance technology used by the Israeli military are being manufactured or transported within the city limits. It also calls for an investigation of any city investments in or contracts with companies materially contributing to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, as well as any other diplomatic links between the city and the state of Israel."

"The pledge to investigate the extent of Portland's entanglements with the Israeli military machine comes just more than two years after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the beginning of an Israeli assault on Gaza that the United Nations Commission of Inquiry found last month constitutes a genocide. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 70,000 people and displaced 1.9 million more."

""We cannot stand by while our public resources and our tax dollars are used to fuel atrocities abroad that, in turn, fuel the militarization on our own streets," Councilor Mitch Green said during a press conference on October 17."

Portland progressive council members and the local Democratic Socialists of America launched a pledge to investigate the city’s financial and material ties to the Israeli military. The pledge requests probes into whether weapons or surveillance technology used by the Israeli military are manufactured or transported within city limits, and whether the city holds investments, contracts, or diplomatic links with companies materially contributing to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Councilor Mitch Green warned that public resources and tax dollars can fuel atrocities abroad and local militarization. The pledge follows the October 7, 2023 attacks and an Israeli assault on Gaza described by a UN Commission of Inquiry as constituting genocide, which has caused massive casualties, displacement, and infrastructure destruction amid a fragile, violated ceasefire.

Read at Portland Mercury