The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to name Ashkelon, Israel, as a sister city.This wasn't just a loss for the BDS crowd - they were routed.
Most of those in a packed City Council Chambers stood and applauded following the vote. The council vote followed an hour of impassioned - but mostly civil - testimony from supporters and opponents.
It was an unusually tense hearing for a sister city program that, until now, had operated without much controversy.
An overflow crowd of more than 250 people gathered inside the City Council Chambers and in the main foyer of City Hall. Some held Israeli flags; other wore T-shirts reading, "Got human rights? Palestinians don't."
Supporters of the plan expressed disappointment that the proposal had resulted in a political debate over Middle Eastern policy. Opponents of the proposal decried city officials for forming a bond with a city in a country they charge violates human rights.
By the way, I once made a T-shirt response to the one mentioned in the article:
