Somerville City Council Votes To Divest From Israel

SOMERVILLE, MA — The City Council voted to pass a resolution in support of divesting from large-scale multinational companies with ties to Israel during its meeting Tuesday night.

The vote passed by a total of nine in favor against two opposed, with Councilors Emily Hardt and Kristen Strezo voting against passing the resolution.

The vote comes as a result of a non-binding ballot question that passed earlier this month during the municipal election with 11,489 votes in favor against 7,920 votes opposed. The question was first proposed by Somerville for Palestine and approved by the Election Commission after the group gathered more than 8,000 signatures in support.

The original question reportedly focused on large-scale multinational corporations such as Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar and Lockheed Martin. Multiple councilors who voted in favor of passing the resolution cited the constituent support as their main reason for doing so. Arguments against the resolution included possibly illegality and irrelevance to Somerville as a city.

See Also:

Somerville Votes To Divest From Businesses With Israel Connections

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