Yesterday was a sad day for NOLA. Late in the City Council meeting, one of the members slipped in a measure that aligned NOLA with anti-Israel activists whose ultimate goal is the destruction of Israel and the ousting of the Jewish people from their place of political sanctuary.

New Orleans is among the first cities in the south to pass a measure that encourages the city avoid contracting with companies involved with human rights abuses in the U.S. and abroad, part of a global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement taking aim at U.S. support for Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

The New Orleans City Council passed a resolution urging City Hall to evaluate the city’s corporate interests and contracts in their relation to companies’ records on human, labor and civil rights, among other benchmarks.

Local organizers began to push city and state leaders after President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration in 2017, and again after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, disrupting diplomatic efforts abroad and Palestinians’ recognition of a Palestinian state.

The resolution “commits itself to protect, respect, and fulfill the full range of inherent human rights for all, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and numerous other international human rights instruments” and encourages the “creation of a process to review direct investments and contracts for inclusion on, or removal from, the City’s list of corporate securities and contractual partners.”

Let me remind my friends that Israel is our nation’s only reliable friend in the Middle East and the only democracy in that region. For the City Council to give credibility to an organization and a concept espousing that Israel is evil and must be eliminated is akin to the same attacks that are foisted against our beloved Nation.