Boston-area towns vote on Israeli anti-discrimination resolutions

Press Release

Organization: Massachusetts Residents for International Human Rights
Subject: Results of local ballot questions on equal rights for Palestinians

Voters Choose Equality: 57 % vote for ending Israeli government discrimination against Palestinians.

Voters in the 34th Middlesex district of South Medford – West Somerville, the 23rd Middlesex district of Arlington, the 15th Suffolk district of Boston (Jamaica Plain), and the 29th Middlesex of Watertown voted “Yes” on a Question that asked: "Shall the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a non-binding resolution calling on the federal government to support the right of all people, including non-Jewish Palestinian citizens of Israel, to live free from laws that give more rights to people of one religion than another?"

The winning percentages were 55%, 54%, 66%, 61% respectively. In total 30,778 people voted Yes (57%) and 22,813 voted No.

Vote echoes 2008 vote in Somerville and Cambridge

Voters in one district, the 2nd Suffolk district of Charlestown – Chelsea voted 48 % in favor but came up just short in passing the ballot question.

The victories in 4 of 5 districts came even though only 1 municipal elected politician supported the ballot question, out of nearly 5 dozen elected officials who were contacted.

In 2008, 73% of voters in the 25th Middlesex district (Central Cambridge) and 62% of Somerville voters in 27th Middlesex District (Central Somerville) voted Yes on the same question. The ballot question has carried in state representative districts in 7 of 8 cities where the question was on the ballot in the last two years.

John Spritzler, a Brighton resident of the Massachusetts Residents for International Human Rights (MRIHR) says “We’re ecstatic. Voters showed that they support the principle of equality and don’t support Israeli laws that discriminate. When given a chance to choose between the principle of equality versus the Zionist principle of inequality (i.e. that Israel must be a Jewish state in which the sovereign authority is "the Jewish people" and not all citizens equally) then Americans chose equality, even when few if any politicians will openly support equality.

Kathy Felgran, a Watertown resident of MRIHR, stated “The road to lasting peace is equality for all, and the recognition of the oneness of all humanity. It’s heartening that the majority of residents agreed.”

Spritzler believes that MRIHR can help Americans throughout the nation understand this: “The principles of equality and democracy, that they overwhelmingly support, are the opposite of the principles of inequality and top-down control that our politicians and mass media defend by telling us lies about Israel and about Palestinians.”