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New Orleans police kept a crowd from entering a packed New Orleans City Council meeting Jan. 25, where the first item on the agenda was the reconsideration of a human rights resolution following mounting pressure from local and national groups and contentious debate over City Hall?s role in the Middle East.

The City Council voted to withdraw the resolution it originally passed Jan. 11, which followed months of discussion and drafting by its proponents, who helped draft a broad resolution directing a city commission to review local contracts and investments to determine whether the city does business with companies involved with human rights violations abroad.

Advocates ? including Amnesty International, a group of 19 international human rights organizations, and more than 20 local groups, including several interfaith and civil rights organizations ? urged the City Council to maintain the resolution, what they argue is a first step in holding officials accountable to enshrine human rights protections. Its opponents warned the resolution could pose severe consequences to New Orleans as part of the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions movement supporting Palestinian independence from Israel.
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