ANN ARBOR — Holding picture of Tariq Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian American boy who was beaten severely by Israeli police, activists Blaine Coleman and Mozhgan Savabieasfahani urged the Ann Arbor City Council to adopt a resolution to boycott Israel.

Coleman and Savabieasfahani, who appeared before the council on Monday, July 6,  have addressed that body about this issue several times over the past decade, to no avail. The most recent resolution proposed by the activists was sent to Councilwoman Sumi Kailasapathy.  Savabieasfahani said the councilwoman has yet reply to her e-mailed proposal. The Arab American News could not reach Kailasapathy by press time. 

The activists addressed the council in three-minute remarks during the public commentary segment.

“I’ve been coming here for at least 10 years. I’ve telling you about these atrocities,” Savabieasfahani told the council, referring to Abu Khdeir. “How much more can you handle? How many children, dead bodies, can your stomach take?”

Coleman said local city councils, including those of Ann Arbor, Detroit and Dearborn, have a moral responsibility to boycott Israel to the maximum extent allowed by law.

“This is the kind of thing city councils pushed for when it came to South Africa. This is the kind of thing the Ann Arbor City Council approved when it came to South Africa,” he said.