PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Providence City Council heard an ordinance Thursday that would divest city funds from Israel sovereign bonds and prevent future investments in governments accused of war crimes and human rights violations.
The ordinance was introduced by Council President Rachel Miller, Councilor Justin Roias, and Councilor Miguel Sanchez, who cited the council’s 2006 order divest from companies that conducted business in Sudan after the genocide perpetrated in Darfur.
The proposal would prevent city assets from being invested or reinvested in bonds of governments maintaining a prolonged military occupation that have been the subject of United Nations Security Council resolutions and/or International Court of Justice rulings.
The city treasurer would also need to review the any investments that would violate the ordinance.
“Our investments are a reflection of our values,” Sanchez said. “Upholding the values of peace, freedom, and justice means not contributing to a war that has taken the lives of 15,000 children.”
Jewish Voice for Peace Rhode Island voiced support for the ordinance, saying the bonds go “directly to the Israeli treasury, providing unrestricted funding going towards general operating funds for the Israeli military and government.”
“As Jews of conscience, we don’t think that our city should be loaning public funds to the Israeli military and government with no guardrails or restrictions to ensure our community isn’t inadvertently supporting violations of international law and violence against Palestinians,” JVP member Johanna Vollhardt said.
Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel heavily criticized the ordinance, saying it was “anti-Semitic” and “fiscally reckless.”
“This proposed ordinance is clearly the work of ‘Jewish’ Voice for Peace which is neither Jewish nor for peace but is in fact a tool of progressive foundations and wealthy individuals with a common interest of eliminating Israel as the Jewish State,” the organization said in a release. “The Providence City Council is just a pawn in their international high-stakes game of chess.”
