By Phebe Eckfeldt
October 20, 2025
Somerville, Massachusetts
“Disclose! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” This chant rang out loud and clear at the Somerville for Palestine (S4P) meeting in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Oct. 6, when members and friends learned that 8,000 of their 11,400 petition signatures were legally certified by the Election Commission. The Commission also overruled an objection by the right wing to the ballot initiative. It will be on the ballot in November as Question 3.
Community members filling Somerville City Council chambers, Somerville, Massachusetts, Oct. 6, 2025. Photo courtesy of Somerville Boycott Question for Palestine Committee.
For the past seven months, 288 volunteers have been canvassing people to sign a petition directing the Somerville City Council to stop using taxpayers’ money to fund Israeli genocide. Every time a delegation of S4P activists delivered the signatures to the Commission they sang freedom songs from the Civil Rights Movement and South Africa.
The city of Somerville has invested in Hewlett Packard (HP) which supplies surveillance equipment and passbooks to Israel. The company is also partnered with the Israeli Occupation Forces. Hundreds of Somerville High School students have demanded that the School Committee get rid of all the laptops supplied by HP.
Somerville also had money invested in Caterpillar which supplies bulldozers to Israel to demolish Palestinian homes. Caterpillar was responsible for the murder of Rachel Corrie, 23, as she knelt in protest defending a Palestinian home in Rafah in Gaza in 2003.
S4P has been working with Black City Councilor Willie Burnley Jr., who is running for mayor. He unequivocally supports Palestine and has spoken out a great deal.
Opposition to the ballot initiative was led by a former Ward 7 Councilor who accepted $150,000 from the pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League and their allies to try to defeat it. They had high-paid lawyers working behind the scenes, while S4P functions on a shoestring budget.
The opposition has been mailing out a vile postcard which aims to discourage people from voting for Question 3. The right wing says that Question 3 takes the focus off Somerville, when in fact it does the opposite.
The postcard from the opposition says that Question 3 is “divisive” and that they have nothing to do with Palestine. In fact, workers here are part of the worldwide working class. The Palestinians are our siblings and we need to do whatever possible to assist them in their heroic struggle against Israeli genocide.
Billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayers’ money goes to Israel every year to murder and starve Palestinians. This money could be used to build schools, hospitals and repair streets in our communities, plus provide funding for food, healthcare, housing and childcare for all.
Somerville for Palestine is now in the process of getting out the vote. They are door knocking and phone banking. They want to have 10,000 conversations about Gaza with 10,000 potential voters. At the S4P meetings the air is filled with jubilation. “Free, Free Palestine!” rings out strongly.
