Palestinian Mainer Fateh Azzam said that many in the state previously did not know what Palestine was before the war. “Now they know, but it’s a really steep price to pay,” he said. Kristian Moravec / The Times Record
Georgetown resident Fateh Azzam said that other Mainers never understood his Palestinian background. Many didn’t even know where or what Palestine was, he said.
“They had no idea,” Azzam said. “Now they know, but it’s a really steep price to pay.”
Born as a Palestinian refugee, Azzam became a U.S. citizen in Portland in 1978. Over the course of his life, he built a career in human rights and international law, which took him around the globe. He even lived in Palestine on a U.S. visa for 11 years during his travels.
It was not until 2016 that he decided to move back to Maine and stay permanently, where he now gets involved in local arts and politics. As a member of the Maine Coalition for Palestine, he plays a role in the recent push for a Brunswick cease-fire resolution, a topic the Town Council rejected as an agenda item in May.
Brunswick resident Carol Masterson drafted a petition for a cease-fire resolution in early March. The petition, which council Chairperson Abbey King declined to consider, citing concerns over divisiveness in an already divided town, drew over nearly 100 signatures on actionnetwork.org and over 220 signatures on change.org as of June 17.
Since May, residents have used public comment sessions to ask the town to reconsider its stance on the issue. Masterson said at the June 3 meeting that she hopes to keep the conversation on the measure going despite last month’s rejection.
In the June 17 Town Council meeting, six residents commented on a cease-fire in Gaza, two of whom spoke out against the proposed resolution. A few people pressed the council to consider the resolution and condemned U.S. involvement in the war.
“We have a serious objection to our tax dollars being used to kill thousands of children in Gaza,” Azzam said of the resolution push. He also noted — like many other resolution backers have done at town meetings — that other cities in Maine, such as Lewiston and Portland, have passed similar measures. While not everyone will agree on the resolution, he said, there are enough saying “not on my dime” that should at least warrant a discussion at the local level.
“It’s not about me being in a rage because I’m Palestinian — [it] does effect every person with a moral conscious,” he said, later adding, “What’s going on in Gaza is genocide.”
The cease-fire push comes as the war enters its ninth month and exceeds a death toll of 37,000. The Associated Press reports that the high death rate of Palestinian women and children has decreased dramatically in early June as Israel adjusts its offensive tactics amid global outcry. Still, some Palestinian families are being completely wiped out in the conflict, the news outlet recently reported.
With the ongoing war and political tension around the world, Azzam said he almost lost faith in what he described as promises of a new, “human rights”–based world. But movements among younger generations, such as Bowdoin College student efforts to have the school disclose financial ties to the war, gave him something to hold onto. Divestment, he said, is one of the noblest forms of nonviolent protest.
“There is a resurgence of a little bit of hope that perhaps people will learn a little bit more of Palestine,” he said. “The resurgence of hope is that people will begin to finally see.”
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