Nonbinding ballot question on Israeli business ties passes in Somerville
Updated: 7:43 PM EST Nov 5, 2025
Editorial Standards
A nonbinding ballot question that asked the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, to divest from companies that supported Israeli actions in Palestine passed on Tuesday night.Question 3 was approved with 11,489 votes in favor and 7,920 against, according to unofficial results from the city’s website.The ballot question, also known as the “Palestine Solidarity Ballot Question,” asked the mayor of Somerville and all elected leaders to cease current city business and ban future investments or contracts that support what it called “Israel’s apartheid, genocide, and illegal occupation of Palestine.”The ballot measure was sponsored by the grassroots group Somerville for Palestine. “As a Palestinian American, I’ve witnessed my family endure Israel’s brutality for decades,” said Amina Awad, a Somerville resident and organizer with Somerville for Palestine. “I believe in a Somerville that is ethically invested in our community. It has meant so much to me to realize thousands of my neighbors agree.” The passing of the measure did not come without controversy.“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,” said American Jewish Committee (AJC) New England Regional Director Rob Leikind. “This resolution will do nothing to help Palestinians as its authors claim. 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.”
A nonbinding ballot question that asked the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, to divest from companies that supported Israeli actions in Palestine passed on Tuesday night.
Question 3 was approved with 11,489 votes in favor and 7,920 against, according to unofficial results from the city’s website.
The ballot question, also known as the “Palestine Solidarity Ballot Question,” asked the mayor of Somerville and all elected leaders to cease current city business and ban future investments or contracts that support what it called “Israel’s apartheid, genocide, and illegal occupation of Palestine.”
The ballot measure was sponsored by the grassroots group Somerville for Palestine.
“As a Palestinian American, I’ve witnessed my family endure Israel’s brutality for decades,” said Amina Awad, a Somerville resident and organizer with Somerville for Palestine. “I believe in a Somerville that is ethically invested in our community. It has meant so much to me to realize thousands of my neighbors agree.”
The passing of the measure did not come without controversy.
“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,” said American Jewish Committee (AJC) New England Regional Director Rob Leikind. “This resolution will do nothing to help Palestinians as its authors claim. 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.”
