To the Portland Office of Government Relations and Portland City Council: We petition you with a profound sense of urgency and moral responsibility regarding the Sister City relationship between Portland and Ashkelon, Israel. The existing partnership is not merely a diplomatic gesture, but an endorsement of a city founded upon the violent dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba and sustained by policies that continue to marginalize and dehumanize them. We the Undersigned, representing widespread sentiments in Portland, adamantly object to this alliance. It stands in complete contrast to Portland’s values. We urge you to reevaluate and take immediate action.

Portland prides itself on its commitment to equity, human rights, and justice. These values are reflected in its local policies and its international relationships, including the Sister City program—a program intended to foster mutual understanding, cultural exchange, and shared progress. Portland’s continued Sister City relationship with Ashkelon is incompatible with these values in light of the City of Ashkelon’s role in the ethnic cleansing and systemic oppression of Palestinians and the broader context of Zionist state policies that have led to well-documented human rights abuses, including the ongoing live-streamed Holocaust we are collectively witnessing today. The matter is more than just an emergency. It is the crisis of our lifetimes and should be treated as such, it cannot continue to be ignored.

Modern-day Ashkelon was established on the ruins of Al-Majdal Asqalan, an historic Palestinian city that was illegally depopulated during the 1948 Nakba. The United Nations had allocated this area to Palestine in its Partition Plan, but between 1948 and 1950, thousands of Palestinian residents of Al-Majdal Asqalan were forcibly expelled from their ancestral homes anyway—many forced into the Gaza Strip under lethal threat and duress, where their descendants remain today under siege. This illegal act of ethnic cleansing, acknowledged by innumerable Israeli and international historians, laid the foundation of Ashkelon to become  a Jewish-only ethno-city without accountability for its crimes. The renaming of Al-Majdal Asqalan was part of the process of erasing Palestinian presence and history. Maintaining a symbolic partnership with a city founded on displacement undermines Portland’s stated commitments to restorative justice and Indigenous sovereignty.

In recent years, Ashkelon has served as a focal point for right-wing Zionist rhetoric and policy. Its current governance has, on multiple occasions, enforced discriminatory policies against Palestinians, including Israeli citizens. Notably, in 2014, then-mayor Itamar Shimoni barred Palestinian laborers from city projects based on their ethnicity. This action was not isolated; it reflected and highlighted the broader, deep-seated culture of racial division and exclusion in Israel that contradicts Portland’s core values. The workers affected were Arab citizens of Israel, who are regularly subjected to systemic discrimination in employment, housing and public services. 

Today, Ashkelon continues to directly benefit from and support policies including the Gaza blockade on food and medicine, land appropriation, segregation, and unequal access to housing, infrastructure and security that violate international law and contribute to what Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem have described as apartheid. Not only that, but Ashkelon and its residents openly support military operations that cause mass civilian death in Gaza. Not only does Ashkelon profit from military and weapons transfers in its ports, but public support for airstrikes on Gaza often crosses into celebratory and voyeuristic displays—such as watching the bombardment from nearby hilltops—dehumanizing Palestinians and normalizing violence. Ashkelon is not an innocent bystander. It is a participant in a structure of domination that violates international law and human dignity. And now, the United Nations has described what is happening in Gaza as a project of “extermination.”

Sister City relationships are more than symbolic; they reflect mutual endorsement and shared civic values. Portland has a long and proud history of standing up for the oppressed. From sanctuary policies to movements for racial justice, it has sought to be a city of conscience. However, continuing to maintain a relationship with Ashkelon signals tacit endorsement of crimes against humanity and alignment or complacency with settler colonialism, militarized occupation, apartheid and segregation, and ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Ending the Sister City relationship with Ashkelon is not an act of hostility, but a principled stand in support of justice and human dignity. It is a meaningful way for Portland to demonstrate its commitment to universal human rights and to stand in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian people, including refugees who were once residents of Al-Majdal Asqalan. We respectfully urge your office to begin a transparent review process and engage with local and international human rights organizations to assess the ethical implications of this partnership. Portland has an opportunity to lead with courage and conscience on the global stage.

Community Organization Endorsements:

Al-Awda PDX
CODEPINK Portland
Rainbow Bloc
Extinction Rebellion PDX
50501 Portland
Jewish Voice for Peace Portland
Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights
Zaytuna of the PNW
American Council for Palestine
Federal Unionists Network - Portland
Portland Democratic Socialists of America
Health Care Workers for Palestine PDX
Portland to Palestine
Progressive Democrats of America Oregon
Jewish-Palestinian Alliance of Oregon  
PDX Friends of Refugees
End the US Blockade of Cuba PDX
PSU Cuba Solidarity
Party for Socialism and Liberation Portland
Empire Files
Rethinking Schools
About Face PDX
Veterans for Peace PDX Chapter 72
International League of People’s Struggle PDX
Resist US-Led War PDX
Portland Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine
Portland Federation of School Professionals, AFT Local 111
Sunrise Movement PDX
People Organizing for Philippine Solidarity (POPS)

Contact us to add your organization’s endorsement!