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© 2026 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)
The results are in. In a progressive city with 82,000 residents, Question 3 passed with only 11,500 votes, just 55% of those who cast a ballot. That is clearly not the mandate supporters of Question 3 have claimed, and proves that most Somerville residents do not want to demonize Israel, hurt their neighbors and divide our community.
We asked the Somerville Elections Commission to give voters more information about this inflammatory and vague question, as they did for Question 1. They declined, and in doing so, hurt our democratic process.
The demands of this non-binding ballot question are illegal and discriminatory. Somerville’s newly elected mayor and City Solicitor have confirmed this. We will keep working to educate about the negative impact that Question 3 brings – on each of us, and on our collective ability to do what is needed for our children, our friends, and our city as a whole.
Since October 7, Somerville – like many communities – has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents and hostility toward Jewish neighbors. A Jewish elected official’s campaign signs were vandalized with bloody bullet holes, a Jewish home was egged, and Jewish and Israeli parents have to explain to their young children why a Somerville parent is wearing clothing on elementary school property that glorifies Hamas terrorists and calls for violence against Jews. Ballot questions such as this contribute to this climate by normalizing harmful rhetoric and hate; they do a disservice to justice.
This campaign was deeply personal to each of the members of Somerville United Against Discrimination and to many residents in our community. Thank you to our volunteers and supporters for your hard work and dedication. We end this campaign with the strong belief that the majority of our neighbors want Somerville to continue to be the welcoming community we call home.
-Somerville United Against Discrimination
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This was a clear and definitive victory. 11,500 Somervillians saw a chance to express their rejection of “Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine” and voted YES.
Question 3 received more votes than the Mayor elect. It has a stronger mandate than he does.
Somerville is a highly educated voter base. To claim that people are somehow unaware of what our tax dollars fund in the middle east is insulting.
Americans are fed up with our government’s cynical support for the genocidal regime in Israel. We do not want to be complicit in Israeli atrocities.
I’m very proud of my fellow residents. This was a expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people and our desire to end the violence being perpetrated against them with our weapons and our money.
Hey Dylan
Somehow you never responded to the observation that Somerville for Palestine (or you for that matter) has refused to criticize Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel on Oct 23, 2023…nor have you- or that oh so “progressive” group-ever criticized anything at all about Hamas! As you must know, some people who opposed Question # 3 strongly criticized Israel on a number of grounds – but you guys – even well before the ballot question ever became an issue – have NEVER criticized Hamas.
What’s up with such resounding silence?! It seems that you and your friends are so committed to solidarity with a “liberation group” like HAMAS that you can’t even bring yourselves to criticize the cold blooded murder of 1,200 people and the taking of over 250 hostages.
You want to express solidarity with the Palestinian people? Fine…I have no problem with that. I, myself, have long supported their right to a free and independent state alongside of a free and secure Israel.On the other hand, it seems very clear that you and your friends are vigorously working towards a Palestinian dominated state – in place of Israel…AND that you very successfully hid that agenda – and your refusal to criticize Hamas – from the voters in Somerville. Do you actually think that Question # 3 would have received anywhere near the number of votes it did if Somerville for Palestine had been open and HONEST about its true agenda?! Of course your group doesn’t think that would have been the case…otherwise why all the deception? TRULY progressive organizations don’t remain deliberately silent when such mass atrocities are committed by groups they are even indirectly allied with.
Leftists, I’d happily take a deal in which we fund neither Israel or Hamas.
If you have an Israeli connection, ask them about why the government of Israel helped Hamas gain power in the first place?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_support_for_Hamas
Dylan
Your attempt to change the subject and totally avoid responding to what I said about you and Somerville for Palestine is embarrassingly obvious.
Please point out – and document- a single time that Somerville for Palestine- or your so-called “progressive” leader Willie Burnley Jr- has EVER criticized Hamas and/or what Hamas did on Oct 7. And try to do so without changing the subject. And while you are at it, please explain why Somerville for Palestine concealed all of this in the run- up to the vote on Question 3.
Congratulations to Somerville for Palestine on the success of the campaign, and thank you for providing your neighbors with an opportunity to weigh in on Israel’s atrocities.
Leftists, I don’t speak for anyone else and I don’t understand your obsession with October 7th to the exclusion of all else.
Israel had global sympathy after the October 7th attack, but not anymore. They burned that up completely by committing genocide.
Simply repeating “October 7th” and “Hamas” ad nauseum does not change the reality we live in or undo what Israel has done.
We as Americans do not fund Hamas. They are a designated terrorist group by our government. However, we do give billions to Israel which they use to commit genocide. For every crime Hamas has committed, Israel has outdone then tenfold and more.
Your insistence on trying to tar people as “hamas lovers” or whatever is petty and stupid. I want to end our material support for the criminal Israeli regime. You clearly don’t for whatever reason. So be it.
DYLAN
MY RESPONSES TO WHAT YOU SAID IN YOUR LAST POST (WHICH I’LL PUT IN QUOTATION MARKS) ARE IN CAPITAL LETERS TO DIFFERENTIATE THEM FROM WHAT YOU WROTE.
“Leftists, I don’t speak for anyone else and I don’t understand your obsession with October 7th to the exclusion of all else.”
I HAVE FOCUSED ON OCT 7 BECAUSE WE JUST HAD AN ELECTION IN SOMERVILLE AND THE “PROGRESSIVE” GROUP THAT PUT QUESTION # 3 ON THE BALLOT HAS DISGRACEFULLY AVOIDED/REFUSED TO SAY A SINGLE WORD ABOUT THE MURDERS OF OVER 1,200 PEOPLE AND TAKING MORE THAN 250 OTHERS AS HOSTAGES. NOR HAS IT EVER UTTERED A SINGLE WORD OF CRITICISM OF HAMAS!
“Israel had global sympathy after the October 7th attack, but not anymore. They burned that up completely by committing genocide.”
“Simply repeating “October 7th” and “Hamas” ad nauseum does not change the reality we live in or undo what Israel has done.”
THAT I AGREE WITH……BUT IT DOES HELP RAISE AWARENESS OF THE DISGUSTING HYPOCRISY OF A SO-CALLED “PROGRESSIVE” GROUP IN OUR CITY THAT CLAIMS TO STAND FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BUT CANNOT AND WILL NOT SAY ANYTHING CRITICAL ABOUT HAMAS…HAMAS!…AND THAT ALSO GOES FOR SYCOPHANTS LIKE YOU – AS YOU KEEP ON TRYING TO DENY/AVOID THE ISSUES I’VE BEEN RAISING.
“We as Americans do not fund Hamas. They are a designated terrorist group by our government. However, we do give billions to Israel which they use to commit genocide.”
SO YOU’RE SAYING THAT BECAUSE WE DON’T FUND HAMAS, THE MURDERS, KIDNAPPINGS, AND RAPES IT COMMITTED ON OCT 7 ARE OF NO CONCERN TO YOU? NOT WORTHY OF YOUR CRITICISM?
“Your insistence on trying to tar people as “hamas lovers” or whatever is petty and stupid. I want to end our material support for the criminal Israeli regime. You clearly don’t for whatever reason. So be it.”
HAVE I EVER CALLED YOU OR ANYONE “HAMAS LOVERS”? IF SO….SHOW ME THE QUOTE. IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT I SUPPORT BERNIE’S AMENDMENT TO CUT OFF FUNDING OF OFFENSIVE WEAPONS TO ISRAEL…ON THE OTHER HAND,YOU SUPPORT…THOUGH YOU AREN’T HONEST ENOUGH TO COME OUT AND SAY IT – DEMOLISHING ISRAEL ALTOGETHER…AND IT SEEMS VERY CLEAR THAT YOU AND YOUR “PROGRESSIVE” FRIENDS SEE WHAT HAMAS DID ON OCT 7 AS SOME SORT OF JUSTIFIABLE ACT OF RESISTANCE…OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE MORALLY REPULSIVE LINES.
DYLAN, I’M GOING TO DO MY BEST TO AVOID WASTING ANY MORE OF MY TIME ON APOLOGISTS LIKE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS IN “SOMERVILE FOR PALESTINE” – AT LEAST NOT IN THIS PARTICULAR EXCHANGE…SO GO FOR IT, YOU CAN HAVE THE LAST WORD. TRY TO WEASEL YOUR WAY OUT OF ALL OF THIS. BUT YOU WON’T FOOL ANYONE WHO HAS EVEN A MODICUM OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Krista
Leftists,
I am simply not as concerned as you are with who is a “hypocrite”. You are fixated on winning an argument that I do not care about for your own satisfaction. You are right that it is a waste of time to focus on that.
I care about where our tax dollars go. I do not want to fund Israel. Many agree with me, that’s why question 3 passed.
It’s worth noting that the “many” is substantial. The use of the 55% figure in the press release has the odor of bad faith. It’s non-typical for a yes/no ballot question to be discussed in terms of total ballots (including those that blanked the question) rather than total yes/no votes–unless there’s some specific threshold required according to the enabling legislation.
Nothing outright dishonest about it, as long as it’s understood that only 38% voted against the city taking action to eliminate support of Israel’s actions in Gaza. “Normal” reporting would cite the results as 59% to 41%. Only the new city charter and Will Mbah are more popular.