In June, Seattle councilmember Kshama Sawant introduced a bill to end all cooperation with Israeli law enforcement, under the banner "End Deadly Exchange," the monicker used by Israel haters for US police training with their Israeli counterparts.
The “End Deadly Exchange” campaign was joined by about 60 community groups, many of them virulently anti-Israel. These included the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Northwest BDS Coalition, the Rachel Corrie Foundation, Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. It was also supported by the teachers’ union for the Seattle public schools. They heavily lobbied City Council; with dozens of supporters calling and meeting with councilmembers in support of the bill, officially called CB120142.
Jewish and Zionist groups, while not as well organized, did their own lobbying against the bill, meeting with councilmembers. These included the ADL, StandWithUs, the American Jewish Committee and the local Jewish Federation.
The bill was amended a number of times and finally came up for review in the City Council meeting this past Monday - hours before the Sukkot holiday.
Most of the speakers calling in supported the bill - and many identified themselves as Jewish.
Even so, the Jewish lobbying paid off.
Seattle's City Council, representing one of the most far Left cities in the US, whose members are comprised of 8 Democrats and one Socialist (Sawant), voted against the anti-Israel bill, by a 5-4 vote.
This shows that pro-Israel groups can respectfully make their voices heard and convince officials to understand the ramifications of these attempts to hijack local issues.
The haters, on the other hand, showed their true ugliness when they lost, accusing the City Council of being more loyal to Israel than to Seattle residents.
The modern antisemites showed yet again that they are nothing but bullies who don't give a damn about human rights unless they can use it as a weapon,
It is notable that this happened soon after similarly "progressive" Burlington, VT withdrew its own local anti-Israel legislation.
The good guys can win even in as hostile environments as Seattle and Burlington. Facts can win out over propaganda. It isn't easy but these two victories show that things aren't as dire as they sometimes seem.
