For decades, debates over Israel in the United States took place where one would expect them to. In Washington, on university campuses, and within foreign policy circles.

That is no longer the case.

Today, some of America’s most progressive cities are increasingly turning Israel into a local political issue. City councils debate resolutions on Gaza. Town meetings consider “Apartheid-Free Community” pledges. Public libraries, school boards, labor unions, faith communities, and neighborhood organizations are asked to take sides in a conflict taking place 6,000 miles away.

The question is no longer whether this phenomenon exists.

The question is why it is happening, and whether Burlington, Vermont, is a preview of what other American cities may become.

Burlington is an unlikely place to become a focal point of the Israel debate.

With fewer than 50,000 residents, the city has no influence over American foreign policy. Yes, it is the home of Bernie Sanders. Yet over the past several years it has become one of the nation’s most active municipal battlegrounds over Israel. City Council meetings have repeatedly been consumed by debates over Gaza, Israel, and the “Apartheid-Free Community” campaign.

The story extends well beyond Burlington. Vermont has become the first state where multiple municipalities have adopted the Apartheid-Free Communities pledge. While supporters describe the initiative as a human rights campaign, critics argue that it singles out the world’s only Jewish state while applying standards rarely demanded of other nations.

None of these municipalities determine US foreign policy.

That is precisely the point.

The resolutions are symbolic. But symbols........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)