Ron Francis of the Somerville, MA, divestment project sent out the following email describing a ballot initiative on Israel/Palestine in Somerville and Cambridge. It urges equal rights for Palestinians in Israel. Cambridge passed it by 73 percent. It interests me because it reminds us how important was Larry Summers's statement to the Cambridge community a few years ago that a divestment initiative at Harvard was "antisemitic" in effect if not in intent. It was a major blow to the divestment movement. And demonstrates the power of pro-Israel Jews in high places. I imagine the South Africa numbers would have been similar 25 years ago. That one wasn't shot in its tracks.
From Francis:
Question 4: "Shall the State Representative from this district be
instructed to vote in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling on the federal government to support the right of all people, including non-Jewish Palestinian citizens of Israel, to live free from laws that give more rights to people of one religion than another."
Good News Folks !
62 % of people voting in Somerville and 73 %
of people voting in Cambridge casts YES votes on Question 4.
Cambridge is the home of leading colleges MIT and Harvard.
Here are the unofficial results for in each state representative district which represents a large fraction of the population of each city.
Unofficial results:
Somerville Massachusetts: 62% of Voters for YES
YES 9100 NO: 5542
Cambridge Massachusetts: 73 % of Voters for YES
YES 9637 NO: 3650
These
results come after the pro-apartheid side attempted legal maneuvers to
block the question from being on the ballot (failing in September), and
over the opposition of mayor, all local elected officials in Somerville
and a main newspaper in Somerville. The mayor of Somerville, two years
ago, went on a trip to Israel sponsored by the pro-apartheid government
of Israel.
WTF? What're they doing buying off the mayor of Slummervile for? Who haven't they got to?
Hey Adelson! I hear there's a dog catcher in Butte Montana that hasn't been shown around Tel Aviv yet!
I oppose force (boycott) used by those that are uninformed to compel a potentially arbitrary behavior on a community that they are not part.
I ASSUME that propaganda is partially true, NOT true enough to enthusiastically act on, but true enough to begin informing me sufficiently to intervene through helping.
Imagine Richard Witty's posture while apartheid S Africa was in full bloom. What do you see?
"a community that they are not part."
But Richard's a part of the community of Israel. It's a special situation. Exclusive club.