On Sept. 4, in a historic City Council vote, Portland resolved to divest itself of any funds from entities complicit in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

I am writing to urge Lewiston to adopt this same resolution.

In May, I joined residents of Lewiston’s African community and students from Bates College in a march through the city to protest Israel’s violence against Palestinians and to call for our government to end military aid to Israel. The support we received from passersby was heartening, showing compassion and a deep understanding of the issues.

I am Jewish. Most of my family members were killed in Nazi concentration camps. I know what that genocide did to the survivors, including my grandmother, who suffered all her life from the trauma of knowing what happened to her parents, and to my father, who escaped when he was only nine years old.

I know that what is happening in Gaza today is another holocaust.

Divestment is a powerful tool to bring peace and justice to all. Right now, our tax dollars and financial investments are paying for the 2,000-pound bombs that blow human beings to bits.

Just as boycotts, divestment and sanctions helped bring apartheid to an end in South Africa, these same nonviolent tactics can play a huge role in ending Israeli apartheid and stopping the systematic repression and violence against Palestinian people.

I hope Lewiston follows Portland’s lead. I know the city has the courage to do it.

Jamila Levasseur, Waldo