It takes guts, it takes maturity and it takes self-awareness for a politician to stand up in the public square and admit he or she was wrong.
That’s exactly what Mark Dion, the mayor of Portland, Maine did when he realized he was wrong to vote for his City Council’s resolution to divest from companies linked to Israel (even though the city had no such investments). But Mayor Dion took it a step further and explained what was flawed in his thinking that led to that vote. He apologized to the Jewish community of Portland and acknowledged the hurt he had caused to his Jewish constituents. The organized Jewish community, through the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, accepted the mayor’s apology. Gracious behavior all the way around.
The Portland incident causes one to wonder how many other anti-Israel resolutions have been supported by misguided individuals who blindly hopped on the bandwagon without truly examining their own feelings and moral commitments.
Like Mayor Dion said, local governments really have no business pointlessly engaging in international conflicts, especially when this can marginalize a valued group of local citizens. He learned it the hard way.
© IJN 2024
