URGENT! Somerville For Palestine Ballot Question Update

[Union Square Neighborhood Council]

Hello all, 

I am forwarding an urgent message I received from Somerville For Palestine, whose ballot measure we voted to endorse after their presentation at the August 4th USNC General Meeting, the minutes for which you can read here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JD4aUkKRBv1Xf6AUw5aVup4yacYBySl5_IVfSlKCD_k/edit

As a supporting organization, we are here to amplify their message that you can read below. 

In solidarity,

Emily D

View in browser  Dear Somerville community, We have an urgent update about the Palestinian Solidarity ballot question, put forth by the Somerville Ballot Question for Palestine Committee (SBQFPC). We need your help! Join us for a RALLY at City Hall on Monday at 9:15am! We need Somerville to show up for Palestine!! Many of you, along with hundreds of community members collected over 11,000 signatures this summer to put a Palestinian Solidarity question on the ballot which would allow Somerville voters to weigh in on ending Somerville’s complicity in Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine. This is an unprecedented and historic local effort! Recently, a new committee led by former Ward 7 City Councilor Judy Pineda Neufeld, was formed to oppose the ballot measure. They quickly raised $150,000 from the ADL and others; the average donation is over $1,100 per donor! We just learned today that the opposition is trying to get our signatures invalidated using baseless arguments. This challenge will be decided at a hearing in front of the Elections Committee at City Hall on Monday 10/6 at 10am and the future of the ballot question depends on the result. Prior to the hearing, please join us for a RALLY at 9:15am on Monday in front of Somerville City Hall! We need Somerville to show up for Palestine!! What else can you do to help? Write a letter to the elections commission in support of putting the Palestinian solidarity measure on the ballot! You can use this template and add your comments! It’s always more powerful when community members add their own experiences, especially if you have canvassed for this question! JOIN US! RALLY on Monday Oct. 6th at 9:15am and HEARING at 10am at City Council Chambers to support this getting on the ballot! Address: Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave. Can’t come? Tell your neighbors! So you can better understand, the opposing arguments are: 1. They claim any signatures submitted before August 7th are invalid.  The ballot question committee has been submitting signatures periodically since the end of April, after the City Council voted to place the question “on file” instead of put it onto the ballot, essentially doing an action that wasn’t “approving” the question. This act of doing anything but approving meant the SBQFPC committee could start collecting signatures, which they did.  The opposing argument is that the elections office made a procedural error by telling us we did not have to wait 90 days from the Council action to begin collecting signatures, thus all signatures collected before August 7th are invalid. They are saying that because the City Council didn’t go back to review the issue they placed “on file”, signatures could not be collected until 90 days before the election. This is not the case and has been clarified by the City Solicitor and Elections department. The City Solicitor advised on the process in writing via Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen before the City Council voted, noting that signature collection could begin immediately after the council took any action on the matter that wasn’t just approving it. They reiterated that process AGAIN to the elections commission over the summer. 2. The second argument is discrimination. Anti-discrimination laws protect discrimination against a protected class. The question targets companies that support the committing of human rights violations. That is not a protected class. There is nothing discriminatory about boycotting and divesting from companies complicit in human rights violations. This is reflected federally with the Lahey Law and locally with Somerville ordinances and resolutions boycotting and divesting from companies that use prison labor and supported Apartheid South Africa. Other Massachusetts communities like Medford and Northampton have successfully passed divestment measures recently – Somerville can and should do the same! Somerville volunteers for this campaign have put in so much time, care, and effort into making sure our tax dollars don’t go to companies complicit in apartheid, and this is a crucial turning point to make sure Somerville voters will be heard! Please, do everything you can to show up on Monday and to make your voice heard! We keep pushing forward! Free Palestine!!! 🇵🇸 In Solidarity, The S4P Leadership Team Sara Halawa, Leila Skinner, Pao Mendez, Jovana Calvillo, Mia Haddad, Adam Pease, Lucy Tumavicus, Annika Schafer, Manizeh Khan, Kaamil Lokhandwala, Neda Mustafa Somerville for Palestine Check out our Linkree for links to our ceasefire letter and the latest actions!  You received this email because you opted in to be kept in the loop with S4P updates.  Unsubscribe

[Ben Kauffman]

Really not a fan of using the USNC as a mouthpiece for a complex and divisive BDS argument. Please stick to the mission:

https://sites.google.com/view/usnc/about

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[Sara Gordon Halawa]

Thank you to the Union Sq. Neighborhood Council leadership for sharing this with the union Sq. community! And thank you for unanimously endorsing the Palestinian Solidarity ballot measure a while back!

Dozens of local volunteers, many USNC members, have been working diligently all summer long to collect signatures in support of putting a Palestine Solidarity question on the ballot for Somerville voters this November. Essentially voters will have the chance to weigh in on wether or not Somerville officials should move Somerville tax dollars out of companies that sustain Israel's apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine. Local volunteers collected 11K signatures this summer, I'm sure many of you talked to them at the farmers market for example! It’s been a tremendous grassroots effort towards making a local democratic process happen. Now, the ADL is funding a legal challenge to those signatures, trying to keep the question from coming to voters.  While people do have strong feelings and opinions on Palestine/Israel, this is not complex. 

Should Somerville residents have to opportunity to weigh in, by voting this November, on whether or not we should move Somerville tax dollars away from companies that sustain Israel’s human rights violations? Should that question be put to voters? 11,000 Somerville residents said yes! 

If you can send an email in support of putting the Palestinian Solidarity question on the ballot to our Elections Commissioner Nick Salerno before the hearing on Monday at 10am, please do. Here’s a template in case you need guidance:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18FyQ8xKHVb-Oa6jw3BcOHHDUMESfTlrAxTPRm8h1fUw/edit?usp=drivesdk

 

In Solidarity,

Sara Halawa

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usnc-public/CAKm5BirO8f7eCode7HS6hizRWFFr_UeHygdOhKrjEgCEWCScRA%40mail.gmail.com.

[David Booth]

Indeed, I recently received a mass-mailing from the
Orwellian-named "Somerville United Against Discrimination" group,
essentially urging Somerville residents to ignore Gaza and focus only on
Somerville's local problems.

That is the exact opposite of "Think Globally, Act Locally".

It seems entirely appropriate to me that a neighborhood organization
should consider the global impact of how Somerville tax dollars are spent.

Thanks,
David Booth

> https://docs.google.com/document/d/18FyQ8xKHVb-Oa6jw3BcOHHDUMESfTlrAxTPRm8h1fUw/edit?usp=drivesdk <https://docs.google.com/document/d/18FyQ8xKHVb-Oa6jw3BcOHHDUMESfTlrAxTPRm8h1fUw/edit?usp=drivesdk>

>
> In Solidarity,
>
> Sara Halawa
>
> On Sat, Oct 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM Ben Kauffman <bpk...@gmail.com
> <mailto:bpk...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Really not a fan of using the USNC as a mouthpiece for a complex and
> divisive BDS argument. Please stick to the mission:
> https://sites.google.com/view/usnc/about
> <https://sites.google.com/view/usnc/about>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 4, 2025 at 1:35 PM Union Square Neighborhood Council
> <unionsquareneig...@gmail.com

> <mailto:unionsquareneig...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> I am forwarding an urgent message I received from Somerville For
> Palestine, whose ballot measure we voted to endorse after their
> presentation at the August 4th USNC General Meeting, the minutes
> for which you can read here:

> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JD4aUkKRBv1Xf6AUw5aVup4yacYBySl5_IVfSlKCD_k/edit <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JD4aUkKRBv1Xf6AUw5aVup4yacYBySl5_IVfSlKCD_k/edit>

> As a supporting organization, we are here to amplify their
> message that you can read below.
>
> In solidarity,
> Emily D
>
>>>
>>> View in browser

>>> <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MDExNTQ4MTAsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiI4MzI3NWI0MWRhMGZhNWQyIn0>

>>>
>>> Dear Somerville community,
>>>
>>> We have an urgent update about the Palestinian Solidarity
>>> ballot question, put forth by the Somerville Ballot

>>> Question for Palestine Committee (SBQFPC). *We need your
>>> help!* *Join us for a RALLY at City Hall on Monday at
>>> 9:15am*! We need Somerville to show up for Palestine!!

>>>
>>> Many of you, along with hundreds of community members
>>> collected over 11,000 signatures this summer to put a
>>> Palestinian Solidarity question on the ballot which would
>>> allow Somerville voters to weigh in on ending
>>> Somerville’s complicity in Israel’s apartheid, genocide
>>> and illegal occupation of Palestine. This is an
>>> unprecedented and historic local effort!
>>>
>>> Recently, a new committee led by former Ward 7 City
>>> Councilor Judy Pineda Neufeld, was formed to oppose the
>>> ballot measure. They quickly raised $150,000 from the ADL
>>> and others; the average donation is over $1,100 per
>>> donor! We just learned today that the opposition is
>>> trying to get our signatures invalidated using baseless

>>> arguments. This challenge will be decided at a *hearing

>>> in front of the Elections Committee at City Hall on

>>> Monday 10/6 at 10am* and the future of the ballot

>>> question depends on the result. Prior to the hearing,

>>> please *join us for a RALLY at 9:15am on Monday in front
>>> of Somerville City Hall*! We need Somerville to show up

>>> for Palestine!!
>>>
>>>
>>> What else can you do to help?
>>>

>>> 1.
>>>
>>> *Write a letter to the elections commission* in

>>> support of putting the Palestinian solidarity measure

>>> on the ballot! You can use *this template
>>> <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MDc0NDYyNzMsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiI0MWU5MTFiODgyMzE1ZTNlIn0> *and add your comments! It’s always more powerful when community members add their own experiences, especially if you have canvassed for this question!
>>>
>>> 2. *JOIN US! RALLY on Monday Oct. 6th at 9:15am and
>>> HEARING at 10am* at City Council Chambers to support
>>> this getting on the ballot! *Address:* Somerville

>>> City Hall, 93 Highland Ave

>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/93+Highland+Ave?entry=gmail&source=g>. Can’t come? Tell your neighbors!

>>>
>>>
>>> So you can better understand, the opposing arguments are:
>>>

>>> *1. They claim any signatures submitted before August 7th
>>> are invalid. *
>>>
>>> **The ballot question committee has been submitting

>>> signatures periodically since the end of April, after the
>>> City Council voted to place the question “on file”
>>> instead of put it onto the ballot, essentially doing an
>>> action that wasn’t “approving” the question. This act of
>>> doing anything but approving meant the SBQFPC committee
>>> could start collecting signatures, which they did.
>>>
>>> The opposing argument is that the elections office made a
>>> procedural error by telling us we did not have to wait 90
>>> days from the Council action to begin collecting
>>> signatures, thus all signatures collected before August
>>> 7th are invalid. They are saying that because the City
>>> Council didn’t go back to review the issue they placed
>>> “on file”, signatures could not be collected until 90
>>> days before the election.
>>>

>>> *This is not the case and has been clarified by the City
>>> Solicitor and Elections department. *The City Solicitor

>>> advised on the process in writing via Councilor Ben
>>> Ewen-Campen before the City Council voted, noting that
>>> signature collection could begin immediately after the
>>> council took any action on the matter that wasn’t just
>>> approving it. They reiterated that process AGAIN to the
>>> elections commission over the summer.
>>>

>>> *2. The second argument is discrimination*.

>>>
>>> Anti-discrimination laws protect discrimination against a
>>> protected class. The question targets companies that
>>> support the committing of human rights violations. That

>>> is not a protected class. *There is nothing

>>> discriminatory about boycotting and divesting from

>>> companies complicit in human rights violations. *This is

>>> reflected federally with the Lahey Law and locally with
>>> Somerville ordinances and resolutions boycotting and
>>> divesting from companies that use prison labor and
>>> supported Apartheid South Africa. Other Massachusetts
>>> communities like Medford and Northampton have
>>> successfully passed divestment measures recently –
>>> Somerville can and should do the same!
>>>
>>> Somerville volunteers for this campaign have put in so
>>> much time, care, and effort into making sure our tax
>>> dollars don’t go to companies complicit in apartheid, and
>>> this is a crucial turning point to make sure Somerville
>>> voters will be heard! Please, do everything you can to
>>> show up on Monday and to make your voice heard!
>>>

>>> *We keep pushing forward! Free Palestine!!! *🇵🇸
>>>
>>> In Solidarity,
>>>
>>> */The S4P Leadership Team/*
>>>
>>> /Sara Halawa, Leila Skinner, Pao Mendez, //Jovana

>>> Calvillo, Mia Haddad, Adam Pease, Lucy Tumavicus, Annika

>>> Schafer, Manizeh Khan, Kaamil Lokhandwala, Neda Mustafa/
>>>
>>>
>>> facebook
>>> <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MTE2NDA1ODUsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiI1MDM2OGRkMTUxMWIyODcwIn0> instagram <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MTY4ODM0NzUsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiI5ZjQyZjgxMWY1NDk5ZTc2In0>

>>>
>>>
>>> Somerville for Palestine
>>>
>>> Check out our Linkree

>>> <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MjEwNzc3ODQsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiIxYjhhMzEwNzU4ZGU3NDgyIn0>for links to our ceasefire letter and the latest actions!

>>>
>>> You received this email because you opted in to be kept
>>> in the loop with S4P updates.
>>>
>>> Unsubscribe

>>> <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MjUyNzIwOTUsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiI2ZGE3NGRiODBiN2IwYWM5In0>
>>>
>>> Sent by MailerLite
>>> <https://gryaww.clicks.mlsend.com/tl/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjkwMDg0OSxcImxcIjoxNjcyMDc2MTM2MzA1MTQ5ODAsXCJyXCI6MTY3MjA3NjI2MjU1MzY5ODYwfSIsInMiOiI5NTI4ZGE4MmEyOTFlYmZmIn0>

>>>
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[jenn harrington]

There are several things that resonate with me in this email thread:

• "There is nothing discriminatory about boycotting and divesting from companies complicit in human rights violations."

• "Should Somerville residents have [the] opportunity to weigh in, by voting this November, on whether or not we should move Somerville tax dollars away from companies that sustain Israel’s human rights violations? Should that question be put to voters? 11,000 Somerville residents said yes!"

• "It seems entirely appropriate to me that a neighborhood organization should consider the global impact of how Somerville tax dollars are spent."

• USNC's transparency with how they unanimously voted to endorse the ballot measure.

I do agree with Ben's point that this is a complex issue. I don't want my neighbors to feel like we're fighting here. We are not (right?). In these times, we are seeing over and over that if we put economic pressure on institutions, some will take a pause in their actions and try to find a better way. I would ask everyone, especially our community leaders, to find a path where we can have genuine conversations that create understanding. We're living in very chaotic times....one of the most important things we can do, even when we disagree, is to listen and create opportunities for dialogue. 

Thanks to everyone for speaking up about a very difficult and painful issue.

Jenn

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[Evelyn Rosenthal]

Too many emails. If it keeps going this way, I’ll need to unsubscribe. Sorry.

Evelyn Rosenthal

Begin forwarded message:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usnc-public/CAOf2RXuDNFavsyRUZMhBoK3wSareG6D-Vo5HKfpoyp2pP499ew%40mail.gmail.com.

[Union Square Neighborhood Council]

Hi Evelyn,

If you click this link, that appears at the bottom of every email, where it says To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usnc-public/D1FD1FAE-75C4-4B8E-B0A8-9DA6827EBD15%40gmail.com  you can go to “my membership settings” and choose to receive fewer emails. Hope this helps! 

Cheers, 

Emily

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usnc-public/D1FD1FAE-75C4-4B8E-B0A8-9DA6827EBD15%40gmail.com.

[evelynrosenthal]

I guess what I really mean is, I've got way more than enough sources for political/state of the country/state of the world issues in my various feeds; I didn't think USNC was going to become another platform for that. Maybe you can start a new group for those issues? But yeah, I'll try "fewer emails" route first. Thanks.

[Ann Camara]

Here’s one more Evelyn:

I always say, “ Everyone’s Civil and Human Rights must be Protected, NOBODY should be hurt or disrespected. Discriminated or treated less than. Sometimes the people who have been treated wrong can be the worse abuses. 

If any company , country, person etc doesn’t respect others, take action. 

I was at the State House Friday, a cause, MASSHEALTH. I was with Mass Senior Action MSAC. Seniors from all around Massachusetts. I’ve been involved for 7 years. Our motto is ‘We don’t take it , we take charge. 

Big companies like Walmart and Amazon send a lot of their money to the islands like Grand Cayon and don’t pay the amount of taxes they are suppose to. We can stop them from sending their money elsewhere. WE buy their products and with the Feseral cuts , we need their taxes to supplement monies for MaSSHEALTH. So many of our elderly, physically and mentally challenged , children, are on it. These causes are real, 

I know one may not compe to the other to some, but I believe USNC is a platform for this because both and more effect our Somerville people and more. Thanks for reading. 

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usnc-public/a662e2d8-5b28-4b39-86b2-12fa13f18be5n%40googlegroups.com

.