Palestinian Protesters Shut Down Portland City Council
SUNRISE CEREMONY
On the morning of the 24th of January, we gathered before the sun broke over the horizon. Pro-Palestinian businesses, organizations, and supporters met near the temporary headquarters for Portland City Council. The rally at 8 in the morning was a native sunrise ceremony.
For the time being, Portland’s City Council is operating at the 1900 Building, as City Hall undergoes renovations. The rally was organized by several businesses that had released a petition calling for a ceasefire, such as Erica’s Soul Food, Coy & Co., Shift Accounting LLC, and more. As such, the activists arrived at Lovejoy Fountain Park, near Portland State University and a stone’s throw from the temporary council chambers.
By the time I arrived, nearly 100 people circled around two tents, early in the morning. Under one tent, activists distributed mutual aid, and provided muffins, scones, and coffee. There were also a number of zines available.
One of the zines was a translation of the research done by several business owners, which my article covered two days prior. It laid out the influence of the Technology Association of Oregon, and the merger between the Oregon-Israel Business Alliance and the TAO. The zine was written and designed well, and we had spent the evening before at the Worker’s Tap, helping fold them.
The activists stood attentive and wore kufiyahs and bore signs calling for an end to the genocide. Behind the speaker’s tent, Palestinian activists held aloft three banners. The first was one seen at several marches, from Jewish Voice for Peace, it read: “NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE”, next to them the healthcare workers held theirs that stated “HEALTHCARE WORKERS DEMAND CEASEFIRE NOW”.
A new banner that captured the theme of the occasion, was held directly next to the speakers, reading “NO CEASEFIRE, NO VOTES”.
The rally was short, as the rain began to pour. Native elders from the Warm Springs Tribe performed a sunrise ceremony. They held aloft their drums and beat as they sang for sunrise. An activist recited a beautiful sonnet. The crowd followed in chants of “FREE, FREE PALESTINE!”.
As an indigenous activist and mother gave a short speech, we noticed a couple Park Rangers walking around the gathering. They kept an eye and harassed a couple activists standing on the edges. One recorded the crowd. We walked over and kept an eye, but they eventually sauntered off.
The speech was powerful. She discussed how she had learned about the struggle of Palestinians, and rightfully compared the plight of those living under occupation, to native communities that had been forced into reservations. She talked about her tribe holding a march calling for a ceasefire, and interactions with tribal police. “They call Palestine the tip of the spear,” she said. “Because once they’re liberated, all indigenous people are liberated”.
One inspiring note was when she discussed her young daughter. As the Warm Springs tribe are a “water people”, she joyfully mentioned how her daughter had thought that “From the River to the Sea” meant they would march from their ancestral river, to Palestine to free the children. She ended with “From the Sea to the River!”, as the crowd chanted “Palestine Will Live Forever”.
Future events were announced for Friday. First, in the morning, Portland State Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (PSU SUPER) plans to protest the meeting of the board, and their continuing partnership with Boeing that siphons students to careers building the weapons that are slaughtering civilians in Gaza. Zaytuna, alongside Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland DSA, and a number of other organizations, shared their event for Friday afternoon. Palestinian groups are opening a lawsuit against Biden and the administration for his support of the genocide. The rally and march is intended to coincide with the beginnings of the historic court proceedings.
Once the speaker finished detailing the forthcoming rallies, they continued. They relayed that while some would remain outside to continue to hold the space, others would begin to filter into the city council meeting, where business owners had reserved slots to speak. I intended to report on the session, and wandered to the entrance.
There are a number of reasons that we followed them into council chambers. The business owners were introducing a resolution to demand a permanent ceasefire, following in the steps of scores of cities like Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, and more. There was also the clear support of the City of Portland for the apartheid regime in Israel. Not only are the commissioners influenced by money from TAO and OIBA, but they also lit up the bridges for a week with the colors of the Israeli flag, after the events of October 7th. Thus, pressure was to be placed on our local politicians.
We entered the building, to find the council meeting planned for the second floor. Once there, we stood in a long line. I conversed with an older gentleman, who asked why so many people were waiting for council. I told him we were here to support Palestine, to which he lit up and thanked us.
For some reason, the security guards were refusing us entrance for some time. The detail revealed that the council was running behind schedule, and that the metal detector was down. Right after we had planned to begin, at 9:30, they told us that they would wand us one by one and the session would soon begin.
Once in, I sat down, and waited for the session to begin. The business owners had prepared their statements, and I could see that they were nervous yet ready.
A few minutes later, the council began.
BUSINESS OWNERS CALL FOR A CEASEFIRE
Commissioner Mingus Mapps, running for mayor, opened the session. He declared that he was presiding chair, as Mayor Tevis Edward Wheeler had a “schedule conflict” that prevented him from joining the morning session. Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, also vying for the empty chair, tried to crack a joke. Yet, from where I sat, I could tell how uncomfortable they were at the crowd of people that filled the chairs. Clearly we were there to demand a ceasefire.
Mapps attempted to call upon a woman named Robyn, as the first matter of business. She would be speaking on the proposed plan to expand bike lanes with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). She attempted to speak a few different times, but eventually, unable to turn on a microphone, they moved on.
Instead, they introduced the next slate of speakers, the business owners. Mingus stated that the agenda item was in regards to a “resolution to call for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine”.
The first speaker was Lynsea Coy, owner of the floral shop that had been harassed by Michael Rapaport. She walked up with her head held high, and sat before the council. Her statement was limited to three minutes.
“I am here because these essential human goals have been threatened and denied repeatedly,” she stated. “You can see these denials in our egregious lack of infrastructure for these annual weather events that your constituents now come to expect. Like we saw last week, with 119,000 Portlanders without electricity. You can see that denial through our shameful number of our houseless neighbors denied life-saving resources like tents.”
Coy continued, “you can see that denial through the city council’s deafening silence on our complicity in the genocide of Palestinians”. Her statement than spoke on the fact that several of the sitting commissioners, specifically the absent Mayor Wheeler, were clearly in the pockets of the Technology Association of Oregon and the Oregon-Israeli Business Alliance.
“I have requested meetings with you to discuss this and have received no response,” she told them. “I welcome you to deny these accusations of complicity in one fell swoop with immediate action, right here, right now, by calling for an immediate resolution for a permanent ceasefire at this meeting. I have submitted a proposed resolution that is prepared for signature. I also printed them out just in case you lost the email. The current Portland petition for a ceasefire stands at over 3,300 signatures. 44 cities in the United States passed ceasefire resolutions”.
As the owner of Coy & Co. spoke, a number of Palestinian supporters stood up in the room. The amount of pro-Palestinians far outnumbered those attending a regular meeting of city council. They held scores of signs calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
One line of nine people, each held a printed letter in both hands. The black and white postcards read “NO CEASEFIRE, NO VOTE!”, a backdrop for the council-members to stare at, as the business owners took their turns to speak.
After discussing the influence of OIBA/TAO, she stated, “I welcome you to deny these claims by calling for a ceasefire now”.
With that she returned to her seat, and we sat attentive, waiting for the city council response. “Thank you Ms. Coy”, Commissioner Mapps stated coyly. He then stated they would return to the agenda item regarding the expansion of bike lanes. By then, Robyn was ready to speak, as she figured out how to turn on her microphone. The commissioners listened to an older woman talk about how her friends ride bikes and how she takes one to work, and how she is excited to see these bike lanes. In essence it was a nothing statement.
Yet when she wrapped up, Mingus responded quickly, thanking her for her “important” testimony and offering to connect her further with PBOT. The blatant dismissal of Coy’s statement was clear, as he refused to acknowledge the resolution. He then invited the next speaker, a continuation of the business owners advocating for a ceasefire resolution.
Erica Montgomery, the owner of Erica’s Soul Food, was next on the docket. She took her seat and began her statement. She stated that she was a former member of the Portland Business Alliance — now rebranded as the Portland Metro Chamber in order to bury the mountain of criticism they had garnered for good reason.
She spoke about a quote from Wheeler, in response to the Proud Boys marching on our city, armed and seeking violence. Erica read his own words, “anyone who comes into our community and is spreading their hate, their racism, their xenophobia, their white supremacist predilections: All of that is very intimidating to people who are here, particularly people of color”.
Pointing to Wheeler’s dismantling of the “socially responsible” investment committee. The decision came after the committee collaborated with Jewish Voice for Peace, the national nonprofit, to divest funds from CAT. The corporation that builds construction equipment had provided heavy machinery to the Israel government, in order to assist in the wholesale destruction of Palestinian homes, which violates international law.
She condemned Wheeler and the council’s part in upholding white supremacy, from the protection of Israeli investments, to the local police bureau. After reiterating her call for a ceasefire called on the council to “That you enter into public record your condemnation of the genocidal actions of the Israel government. That you call for humanitarian aid immediately for the people of Palestine. That you resolve to end all military aid to the Israel government. That you call for an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. You immediately sever ties with Ashkelon. That you make a statement to support solidarity with Palestine and Palestinian Americans”. With that, she too returned to her seat,
Again, the statement was ignored by Mapps, who called the next business owner. The woman who spoke next delivered another scathing indictment of the failures of the city council to invest in the city and provide resilient infrastructure.
“The activism that you pose calling Portland a progressive city not only reflects a superficial engagement with ongoing social issues but mirrors the ominous historical trend of ignoring atrocities,” she reminded them. “Your paid for and calculated silence not only fosters a complicit atmosphere but it also resonates with the haunting history where humanity faltered in the face of unfolding horrors. This urgent call to action is not just a request but it is a mandate. We demand that you boldly confront the humane injustices and war crimes that are being committed.”
She pointed out that it was clear now that Israel had no interest in their own rhetoric of “save the hostages”. And that it had engaged it was clearly an act of ethnic cleansing, murdering Palestinians at the rate of 250 humans a day.
Mapps brushed past the end of the remark with a curt “thank you, and the next speaker”. His desire to speed things along was evident.
Next to speak was a Palestinian and long-time Portlander named Alexandria Saleem. She was a florist, famer, and cultural worker who, for years, had worked with SWANA Rose — a cultural center for the South West Asian and North African diaspora. Saleem’s testimony was direct and powerful.
She spoke from her experience of being a Palestinian born in diaspora. “I am here, representing four generations of my family displaced from our home village in Palestine since 1948, [of] my two children being the youngest. I’m here today, to emphasize that this global issue has deep local repercussions and requires you to take action. I am testifying today to urge you to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza”.
“This is an unprecedented loss for our communities, in Portland and globally. It has been unimaginable to watch the city I’ve grown up in, and raised my kids in, be absolutely silent in the face of the most deadly military campaign of the 21st century,” she continued. “Your Palestinian constituents with relatives in Gaza have lost entire branches of their family. Over the last 109 days in October, my great uncle witnessed three of his children and all of their children, his grandchildren killed. Then he too was murdered in an Israeli airstrike. Two of his sons’ lives were taken a week later”. She spoke from a place of understanding that a multitude of families in Portland lost entire lines of relatives in the genocide.
She once again implored the council to honor their Palestinian constituents and “to stop the killing, introduce a ceasefire resolution. Now”. Saleem’s testimony brought the crowd to applause, as she too returned to her seat. She was the last speaker, and as we shared our support for her statement, we awaited for how the council would respond.
As one could expect, the response of the commissioners was silence.
CITY COUNCIL SHUT DOWN
As soon as Saleem sat down, and the applause subsided, I began to record, intent on capturing how the council would respond. After the crowd’s cheers fell, all Commissioner Mingus Maps could say was “great, um, calling on…”. He completely ignored their concerns or refused to address the resolution that had been presented to them. Mingus completely disregarded the business owners and his constituents.
I chimed in, clear. “You just gonna brush past it? You don’t care?”. Mapps stuck his head up and stared me in the eyes. “C’mon”, I implored him. “Acknowledge it man”. This was met with chuckles across the room.
Mingus was clearly shaken and attempted to return to his decorum. “We have some guests who have come to talk about a very important item,” he was fumbling to finish his sentence, as he turned it over to the council clerk to read the agenda item.
“C’mon, c’mon man acknowledge it,” I once again asked, as the council secretary read. People in the crowd began to be visibility irritated at the commissioners that refused to even vote or discuss the ceasefire resolution. Even a small statement to express they heard their residents and voting block.
Instead, Mingus Mapps began to speak again, as he tried to change the subject. “Friends,” he stated. “This next item comes to us from PBOT. But before we jump into that presentation, I want to take a moment to acknowledge what was truly a horrendous week for many of us here in Portland. We all experienced the downed trees, the power outages, the business and school closures, and sadly — ”
He was cut short as someone called out, “how about Palestine?”.
It is also important to understand what ignited the rage at this statement. For Mingus to attempt to distract us by talking about the winter storm was truly audacious. Especially as the business owners had called out the city’s lack of preparedness for what have become standard catastrophic winter events due to the climate crisis. They criticized the city’s inaction, their closing the warming shelters as the layer of ice set in on Portland, as we divested millions in public taxes to fund the Israeli apartheid state.
I chimed in to heckle Mapps as well, whose voice faltered. The crowd of people began to call out “shame!”, as the council attempted to blatantly ignore the supporters of the resolution. “C’mon Mingus, grow up!” I called out.
“Friends, I will remind you” Mingus attempted to cut in. To which I yelled out, “we’re not your friends. You work for us!”
“Friends, I will remind you, anyone in the room that disrupts will be asked to leave.” By now his words were drowned out by the number of people yelling out “boo”, and “how many more children?” and “BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!”.
Eventually the session could not continue, as the activists began to cry out “CEASEFIRE NOW!”. Mapps called for a recess, which was barely audible.
The crowd continued to overwhelm the council, who by now began to stand up out of their seats and converse with their aides. I pointed at Rene Gonzalez, and yelled out, “you look like shit Rene! You look like shit!”. Which he did, one could see the gaunt and soulless look in his eyes as he glared at his constituents.
A staffer of his attempted to converse with us as a couple of us complemented his nice suit. He told us that he did agree with us, but this wasn’t the way to go about it. It was a condescending comment, and I pointed out to him that the business owners had just spoken and the council was not even going to give them a courtesy response. ‘You look like shit Rene,” I cried out again. The man tried to tell me that it wasn’t a nice comment and I broke out laughing.
It turned out the man in question was actually Shah Smith, the campaign manager for Rene Gonzalez. The arrogant man also worked on the election for Mitt Romney. In essence, Gonzalez hired Republican political actors, because he is a Republican by policy, and truly hates his own city. Remember that Gonzalez won his seat through moneyed interests, promising to clamp down on the unhoused, and through the support of the local police bureau who shared absolute lies about his opponent, Joann Hardesty.
The calls for “CEASEFIRE NOW”, continued to fill chambers. Smith stood directly in front of me, to which I assured him I was keeping my hands to myself. The commissioners scrambled out the side door, where I stood.
As Dan Ryan walked by I yelled out, “fuck you Dan”. As Rene moved quickly past his detail, I looked at him and told him, “you look like shit Rene, fuck you”. I booed the others, and as Mingus Mapps sped past, he looked me point blank in the eyes. I flipped him off, and told him to “eat a dick”.
Eventually the staffers and city workers moved out as well. As such, the crowd continued their repeated calls. From the hallway, we heard a growing chant of “CEASEFIRE NOW! CEASEFIRE NOW!”.
I grabbed my bag and wandered out the hall. Staffers stood at the side hallway, where the commissioners had fled. In front of the security gate, a mob of over 50 people joined us in our chant. One by one, the activists began to shuffle out of the chambers. They entered the hallway and joined the crowd.
The security guards looked entertained honestly, not even that upset. Just watching the proceedings. I noticed that on the wall of the hallway, someone had scrawled “ACAB” twice, in permanent marker.
I went to the other side of the gated areas to fall into the mass of people. They filled the upper floor. I looked down below to the entrance, and was happy to see another 50 people that filled the hallway.
Our chants of “CEASEFIRE NOW!” filled the hallways. I went down the stairs, to film the rally from the ground floor. Down there, I looked up at the crowd. A Palestinian flag was held over the railings. In the lobby, some danced and continued in unison.
It was a beautiful show of solidarity. After a good 15 minutes of this continued calling for a ceasefire, a protest leader proceeded to point to the doors, to escort everyone down and out of the building.
Photo: Paul Searle
The exit was hasty. Amongst the crowd I heard a few rumors of the Portland Police Bureau on their way, and a possible kettle. We entered onto the sidewalk, and the protesters marched fast to return to Lovejoy Fountain Park.
I have one criticism of the tactics here. While the claim that the police were indeed on their way seemed to be tracked by protest leaders, the way it was communicated ignited a small panic. If the police were truly prepared to arrest demonstrators, there would have been a dispersal order. It would have meant more to await that dispersal order, and if some were willing to risk arrest to allow autonomy. Even waiting out their arrival outside the entrance, but I understood how many were not seeking such an action in the morning. Regardless, the point was made as the protest directly shut down city council proceedings for a couple hours.
We gathered once again at the park. There we were thanked by the organizers and businesses for our support. They called on us to continue the fight. A student with PSU SUPER urged us to join the Friday action to shut down the board meeting, as we were reminded of the rally by Zaytuna, JVP, and others.
One woman spoke, and lead us in chants of “No Ceasefire! No Votes!”. Eventually the rally grew to a close, as we were told we would disperse from there, as the medics and safety teams were also heading out.
CITY COUNCIL RESPONDS
I helped pack a few things, and then I wandered home, to write about the day’s events. As I began to parse through social media and my camera roll, I discovered a video posted during the time we rallied outside the chambers.
Commissioner Rene Gonzalez posted an Instagram reel that reeked of the behaviors of a petulant child. He recorded himself in front of a collection of stamps as he captured the cries of “CEASEFIRE NOW!” that echoed through the hallways. The caption read “While protesters disrupt council I feel like approving some permits!!!!”.
While the video was clearly vindictive, it was also dishonest. Several news sources had exposed how a number of the over 675 trees that fell across the county, had been denied a permit to be chopped down. One nearly killed a young girl, while other destroyed homes and businesses. Others had ravaged infrastructure, brought down power lines, and caused the MAX lines to be shut down, alongside the ice.
The next day Rene posted his response on X, formerly Twitter. “Anti-Semitic language is being normalized by extremists in Portland and it needs to stop,” he declared. “Yesterday in a morning council session that would eventually be moved online, a [protester] used the language, ‘…the international business interests of Israel.’ This is old code, an anti-Semitic dog whistle used in Europe a century ago, being used by 20 somethings in Portland today.” To be clear this has never been a dog-whistle, and refers to the literal economic policies of the apartheid state.
“Later in the day, walking in Pioneer Square, a man who seemed to be [in] some sort of trance yelled disgusting language about the Jewish people. Unrelated instances? Probably — but horrific”. His post attempted to tie the ramblings of a man in a mental health crisis, to the legitimate criticisms of the city’s ties to genocide. It was also erroneous, as one of the speakers, Alexandria Saleem is Palestinian, and therefore semitic, and the rally was organized alongside Jewish activists in Jewish Voice for Peace.
Regardless, Rene showed his true colors. As we all knew, through his work to dismantle Portland Street Response, his backing of the criminalization of addiction, and other Republican policies; he despises when his own constituents criticize him, and hates the city that he seeks to represent as Mayor.
Then there is the question of Mingus Mapps and his attempts to steer the conversation past the calls for a ceasefire resolution. Mapps struggled to begin discussing “what was truly a horrendous week for many of us here in Portland”.
Yet, as discussed by the business owners, the sheer failures of infrastructure and the lack of a safety net for unhoused Portlanders, was the result of the city’s lack of investment in social services. It is also directly correlated to the city’s gentrification and the interests of the tech industry that had deep ties with the techno-fascist state of Israel. Mingus also solely discussed the experiences of home-owners, as he brought up downed lines and burst pipes that left over 119,000 residents without power.
It is all interconnected. The influence of the Portland Police Association, and the Portland Metro Chamber, and their control of the council. The city council allowing mass sweeps shortly before the murderous cold. The interests of the tech sector in influencing Portland policies, that fuels gentrification and the housing crisis, as industry lobbyists work to intertwine the Oregon and Israeli tech sectors. The attempt to drive out the unhoused, or worse yet, allow them to die in the cold. It is clear that our city council is in the pockets of the Tech Association of Oregon, the PPA and PPB, the Oregon-Israel Business Alliance, and moneyed interests.
In the next article, I will discuss the city and county destroying the shelter system, Portland Street Response, the Joint Office of Homeless Services, and resources for the unhoused. Until then, Portland City Council will remain silent for their complicity in the Palestinian genocide. Or in the case of Rene Gonzalez, behave like a child and mock his constituents for calling for a ceasefire.
No Ceasefire, No Votes.
