The Somerville Divestment Project (SDP) already had collected around 4500 signatures, several hundred more than required. But presumably not all these signatures would be found valid.

SDP chair Ron Francis received a letter—dated August 4, but not mailed until August 9—from Election Commissioner Nicolas Salerno, announcing the Commission’s decision to reject the petitions.

An opinion of City Solicitor John Gannon, dated August 1, was attached to Salerno’s letter: "SDP cannot collect signatures prior to the deadline provided in the statute," he wrote. "I would recommend that the Commission produce election petition forms in a manner approved by the Commission and release them to SDP at the appropriate statutory deadline."

The City Solicitor did not say there was anything wrong with the petition forms being used by SDP. He clearly suggested that requiring the new forms would be a convenient way for the clerks to set aside signatures obtained before the "statutory deadline."

However, the statute cited by Gannon does not include a deadline. The Election Commission was not content to change the form of the petition. It also completely rewrote the question. [see box].

Petitioners sought injunction

Attorney Catherine Highet told us that SDP sought an injunction "to require the city to count the petitions already collected" because it would be virtually impossible to meet the September 26 deadline if they had to start over again.

The judge did not rule on the supposed "statutory deadline." He did not even hear arguments on that point.

According to Highet, Judge Houston "was obviously concerned that the city had gotten the question wrong." However, he ruled that the city "had a right to make rules about the process of placing a non-binding question on the ballot."

Despite this serious setback, SDP is unlikely to just give up and go away.

The SDP campaign’s success in carrying out a grass roots effort in support of Palestine has been unprecedented. This is quite an accomplishment in the face of a concerted—and no doubt, expensive—effort to discourage people from signing the petitions. SDP members say that Mayor Curtatone and Congressman Capuano made specail efforts to discourage and undermine them.

SDP was formed in the first months of 2003 by Somerville residents concerned about the plight of Palestinians under Israeli rule. They reasoned that apartheid South Africa had been undermined by getting institutions and governments to divest, or dis-invest, in South African corporations. Now many people, even a few Israeli politicians, were beginning to describe Israel as an apartheid State.

Through 2003 and 2004, a divestment proposal was developed. This process included some Zionists, supporters of Israel as a specifically Jewish state. This cost SDP support from some who want all Palestine to be a single State, and who want refugees to have a right of return to their former homes and lands.

The SDP proposed that Somerville get rid of $250,000 worth of Israel Bonds and $1.2 million of stocks in companies that sell weapons to Israel like General Electric, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. They set up meetings with the city eleven Aldermen and collected and began collecting signatures. By October 2004, their resolution had the sponsorship of eight Alders and 1200 petition signers.

No opponents came to the first hearing on October. But Aldermen White and Roche blocked passage of the resolution that night, insisting that Israel supporters also be heard from.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRCGB) quickly set up an anti-divestment front, Somerville Coalition for Middle East Peace. This groups website links to a number of official-sounding sites in Israel, but not to any of the established Israeli peace groups.

JCRCGB’s self-proclaimed top priority is to "advocate pro-Israel policies, meet regularly with elected officials and the media, and sponsor missions to Israel for key communal leaders."

The next hearing was on November 8. SDP supporters faced a pro-Israel crowd organized by JCRCGB, including labor union lobbyists, politicians, and pro-Israel organizations. Divestment was denounced by Mayor Joe Curtatone, State Senator Jarrett Barrios, Rep. Tim Toomey, and Congressman Mike Capuano.

Senator Barrios’s statement was typical: "To label Israel as deserving of divestment without doing so to scores of others who have far more blatantly violated human rights is both unfair and unproductive."

However, Somerville does not hold bonds of any foreign country other than Israel.

How petition campaign began

The outcome of the next meeting on December 7 became a foregone conclusion. The erstwhile eight petition sponsors all abandoned SDP. The Alders voted nearly unanimously against divestment, except for Denise Prevost.

SDP then decided to work for a ballot question. Obviously disappointed by the results of accommodating supporters of Israel, SDP rewrote their proposal.

In Somerville it is impossible to place a binding question on the ballot, because the city charter does not provide for this. Therefore SDP relied on State law, which provides only for non-binding advisory questions.

In 1988, 53 percent of the voters supported an advisory question in Cambridge and Somerville calling for Israel to get out of the West Bank and Gaza and establishing a Palestinian state there. On March 30th, SDP began collecting signatures to put divestment on the November 8 ballot.

Two weeks after the SDP began petitioning, Mayor Curtatone left on an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel. Part of the tab was effectively picked up by JCRCGB, a lobbyist with business before the City. Curtatone returned full of enthusiasm and new determination to fight the divestment petition. Yes, he would also like to visit Palestine some day. Of course he had just done so—"Israel" and "Palestine" are geographically identical.

Two months later, SDP was told that it would not be allowed to participate in Davis Square ArtBeat on July 16, because SDP was "political." There had been SDP tables at ArtBeat in 2003 and 2004. ArtBeat is a project of the Somerville Arts Council, which is attached to the Office of the Mayor. The City’s Arts Council director stated SDP was different because he had received "complaints."

Mystic River Green-Rainbow Action (MRGRA), was the only other group barred from ArtBeat.

MRGRA, the group which initiated and sponsors this newspaper, subsequently voted to endorse and help with the SDP petition.

On August 19th SDP submitted 1000 petitions to the election commission. Surprisingly, they were accepted, and subsequently most were validated. But the second batch, submitted in September, were refused.

The plaintiffs are going forward with their suit against the City, although it cannot be heard in time to effect the ballot in the November 2005 election.

Judge Julian Houston was active in the movement against South African apartheid in the 1960s. SDP leader Ron Francis took part in the later phases of that same movement.