SEPTEMBER 2005
divestment in the tradition - from the city of Somerville,usa
"Concerned citizens and governments all over the world must organize a comprehensive campaign of economic disinvestment and divestment from Israel along the same lines of what they did to the former criminal apartheid regime in South Africa. This original worldwide...campaign played a critical role in dismantling the criminal apartheid regime in South Africa. For much the same reasons, a worldwide disinvestment/divestment campaign against Israel will play a critical role in dismantling its criminal apartheid regime against the Palestinian people living in occupied Palestine as well as in Israel
itself." Francis Boyle, Professor International Law, University of Illinois
The JCRC in Boston Wants Somerville to Pay For Israel.
Israel Out of Somerville!
By Karin Friedemann
24 Aug 2005
http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/
display/40637/index.php
Israel lobbyists, determined to prevent Americans from having a say in where their tax money goes, have targeted the City of Somerville. Now, Somerville voters are taking their democracy back. Thousands of Somerville residents signed the Divestment ballot petition while the corrupt mayor took his free trip to Israel. The Somerville Divestment Project represents all loyal Americans whether Republican, Libertarian, Democrat, or Green-Rainbow. Divestment is not about dictating foreign policy. Divestment is the act of cutting Somerville's financial losses. The City of Somerville has no obligation to pay for Israel's existence.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston used payola and political pressure to manipulate Somerville's elected officials to renounce their previous pro-Divestment 9-2 vote that represented the public will. JCRC machinations brought the Israeli ambassador Meir Shlomo to Somerville City Hall to patronize us with a hypocritical lecture on justice and democracy. Why is the State of Israel so desperate for Somerville's measly investments? They are quite possibly spending more money trying to defeat the widely popular Divestment ballot petition than they are even getting from Somerville. Israel is scared of a little town like Somerville, Massachusetts because this town has a strong anti-racist and anti-slavery tradition. There are many Irish here, who naturally sympathize with Palestinians since they too suffered under a military occupation and a racist policy to supplant the native population with immigrant colonial settlers. To find out what you can do to support Somerville Divestment, see
www.divestmentproject.org .
The Israel lobby works on two levels. The "public relations" wing of the Jewish State used Tikkun, a pseudo-liberal Zionist opinion magazine to discourage "progressive" Jews from supporting their neighbors' attempts to pressure Israel to stop human rights abuses. Hayyim Feldman invented false claims about the purpose of the Somerville Divestment Project in order to make a dishonest argument in defense of the two-state solution, which is totally irrelevant to the issue of Divestment, while "Somerville Middle East Justice" engaged in more insidious slander and manipulation tactics. Israel supporters are advised on their website to "be vague" and talk about "peaceful coexistence" when they speak with Aldermen. They are further advised to thank one elected official for silencing the discussion on the Jewish theft of Palestinian lands, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes, and the 25-foot Wall between Jews and Gentiles Israel is building with Somerville's money. The website is decorated with photos of Ariel Sharon. The Boston Israel Lobby's use of the words "peace" and "justice" are just public relations gimmicks. They cover up a violent genocidal racist ideology, an agenda which is totally inappropriate for Somerville.
Insider communications reveal that the Anti-Divestment coalition was formed in defense of the Israeli military and police. They campaign for unqualified support for Ariel Sharon's atrocities. Israel's crimes are ongoing, and have included bombing the Church of the Nativity where Christ was born, according to Christians. The Israeli army murdered the bell-ringer. On the "Somerville Coalition for Middle East Peace" website, Palestinians are not considered legally defined human beings. This omission reflects a racial supremacist philosophy with which the City of Somerville should not associate itself. Somerville needs to separate its interests from what the JCRC in Boston thinks is "wrong for Somerville." In the past, slavers thought they knew what was best for Somerville, but Somerville was united in its effort to defeat slavery and racism. Today, Somerville is united in its effort to defeat Zionist racism. The Israel Lobby does not represent the people of Somerville. No one should have special privileges, not in the Holy Land, and not in Somerville.
"The JCRC wants YOU to pay for Israel" campaign involves Cable TV and a $30 million budget. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston has employed several full-time staff members to undermine democracy specifically in Somerville. None of these people live in Somerville. They are Farrah Raskin, Marjorie Polster and Rachel Glazer. Rachel Glazer of Brookline is the program coordinator. Their goal is to impose "special rights" for the Israeli Lobby over Somerville voters. This group works with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the central fundraising and planning arm of Boston's Jewish community. Mark Niedergang (which means "downfall" in German), in charge of collecting grant applications for the Brookline-Brighton Jewish Community Fund Committee, happens to live in Somerville, on Conwell Street. An employee of the CJP, he is among those responsible for bringing virtually unlimited amounts of cash into the pro-Israel campaign to undermine Somerville's democracy.
Somerville voters have the right to divest from Israel. Somerville needs to take back its democracy. The pro-Israel lobby is planning to intimidate voters at the upcoming special election. They expect the City of Somerville unconditionally and eternally to finance Israel's existence. Now is the time for the Green-Rainbow party to run a candidate against Mayor Curtatone. Mayor Curtatone is currently being investigated on ethics violations for accepting gifts from the American Jewish Congress, an organization openly taking sides on an active issue in front of the Board of Aldermen. How dare the Boston Israel Lobby use the Somerville City logo as part of their campaign to silence Somerville taxpayers? They want to finance war criminal Ariel Sharon with Somerville's money? Who are these people who want to let Israel get away with human rights violations? Are we safe with them living among us? What if they want to murder our family and steal our house? What if they get a Caterpillar bulldozer to root out non-Jews from Somerville? These are the kind of racists we are dealing with here. They not only want to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing in the Holy Land, but they want to do it with your money. Sorry, no!
TALKING POINTS
1) Somerville is not divided. Somerville is virtually united against the shady investments in Israel bonds. The only people disturbing the peace are the Israel lobbyists from Boston who want to interfere with Somerville's decisions on where their tax money should be invested. More and more people are in favor of Divestment, and just this week the Lutherans came on board. In Somerville, the Aldermen were 9 to 2 in favor of divestment until the Israel lobby used its tremendous financial resources to confuse the issues. Their actions included bribing the mayor and bringing an Israeli diplomat to City Hall to interfere with the local decision making process.
2) Investing in Israel against the public's will is taxation without representation by a foreign government! Divesting from Israel means steering clear of all possible bias. The issue of Divestment is separate from the question of whether or not Israel has a right to exist. Few Americans would shed many tears at the abolition of Zionism, but Divestment is the decision to take a neutral stance. I
support Switzerland's right to exist, but I don't think Somerville needs to pay for Switzerland. The real issue is that Israel is a losing investment. Somerville residents don't want to invest in a controversial foreign agenda. Why not invest in public transportation?
3) A few corrupt officials within the Somerville government have singled out Israel as a country that gets free perks from Somerville taxpayers. The Irish are not sending our tax money to Ireland. The
Saudis are not sending our tax money to Saudi Arabia. Why should Somerville have to invest in Israel? The JCRC and CJP made private agreements with Somerville public officials without the consent of the local population, and now Israel is getting involved in local politics. Why is Somerville being pressured to invest in a foreign project and why are voters being forcibly discouraged from openly discussing the matter?
Peter Myers,
http://users.cyberone.com.au/myers