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‘This is just the beginning’: Nonbinding Israel divestment ballot question passes in Somerville
Question 3 asks voters whether Somerville officials should divest from companies that “engage in business that sustains Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine."
A nonbinding ballot question on whether Somerville should divest from companies supporting Israel’s actions in Palestine passed overwhelmingly Tuesday night, unofficial results indicated.
Question 3 asked voters whether Somerville officials should divest from companies that “engage in business that sustains Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine,” according to a sample ballot.
The question passed with 11,489 votes, or 55.7 percent of the votes, according to unofficial election results.
According to unofficial election results, 38.4 percent, or 7,920 people, voted against the question, while 5.8 percent, or 1,203 voters, left the question blank.
The ballot measure, prompted by grassroots group Somerville for Palestine, received more than 11,000 signatures, Sara Halawa, a leader of Somerville for Palestine, told Boston.com before polls closed on Tuesday.
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Halawa said Somerville for Palestine group members were feeling “extremely encouraged” and embracing the lively, anticipatory energy of election day.
“For question three for Palestine, people are ready to come out and vote in solidarity with Palestine to end Somerville’s complicity in Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation of Palestine,” Halawa said.
The “Yes on 3 for Palestine” campaign faced several hurdles in its journey to get on the ballot, namely from Anti-Defamation League-funded group Somerville United Against Discrimination.
The group, which says on its website it’s made up of Jewish and non-Jewish residents of Somerville against Question 3, filed a lawsuit against the City of Somerville on Oct. 14 — the group’s second attempt to remove the question from the ballot.
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The group’s first effort to eliminate Question 3 included paying for mailers distributed at Somerville residents’ doorsteps urging them to vote against the ballot measure on Nov. 4, according to The Cambridge Day.
“The ballot question ignores the problems here in Somerville, creates tension and fear, and pits neighbors against neighbors. That’s not justice for anyone,” the group’s website states.
The lawsuit, as well as all other requests by the group, was denied by Middlesex Superior Court Justice Sarah Weyland Ellis on Oct. 30. Ellis also denied a request for a 150-word opposition statement on the ballot, court filings show.
“That is clearly not the mandate supporters of Question 3 have claimed, and proves that most Somerville residents do not want to demonize Israel, hurt their neighbors and divide our community,” Somerville United Against Discrimination said in a statement Tuesday night after the ballot question passed.
Rob Leikind, regional director of the American Jewish Committee New England, said in a statement Tuesday night after the ballot question passed that the “resolution will do nothing to help Palestinians as its authors claim.”
“Rather than focus on the real issues of Somerville, BDS proponents used local government to advance a crass narrative that promotes false, baseless claims about the only Jewish state,” Leikind said. “What it will do, and what it has already done, is sow division within the Somerville community, divert time and energy away from real local issues, and further isolate Jewish residents already struggling with a surge of antisemitism and anti-Israel activity.”
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Halawa said getting the measure on the ballot was a “community effort” fueled by hundreds of volunteers collecting signatures, as well as several rallies at City Hall and lobbying visits with city councilors.
“This is really, truly a grassroots Somerville community. It’s people in Somerville saying ‘enough is enough,’ Halawa said. “We’ve watched genocide live streamed for two years, and we don’t accept any more, and we want to end Somerville’s complicity in it.”
The ballot question aims to send a directive to Somerville officials to divest and boycott from companies supporting Israel, Halawa said. The next step, she said, is for Somerville leaders to “put it into practice.”
“We want to see ordinances. We want to see our pension divested. We want to see HP out of our schools. We want to end all of our pension shares in Lockheed Martin. So there’s a lot of work to do,” Halawa said.
As a mother of five, Halawa said she wants to raise her children in a Somerville where her taxes don’t support “companies that profit off of this horrible, horrific oppression.”
“This is just the beginning,” Halawa said. “But this will send a clear, unignorable message to the leaders of Somerville that it’s time to act in solidarity with Palestine now.”
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