An “ethical procurement” policy for Somerville got discussion and a referral to committee on Thursday that brought signs and chants back to City Hall, along with testimony about genocide overseas and antisemitism and fear locally.
The ordinance from councilors Ben Ewen-Campen and Ben Wheeler calls on the mayor and city staff to stop Somerville from financially supporting – through its investments or business dealings with companies – apartheid, genocide, unlawful military occupation or war crimes.
In the language of the nonbinding Question No. 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot, that means any company that “sustains Israel’s apartheid, genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine.” The proposed ordinance names Israel and Palestine “because we were asked to do that specifically by the people who elected us,” Ewen-Campen said, although “of course we are not arguing that we should give our public support to these same violations elsewhere in the world.”
In official results from that election, 56 percent of total votes on the question naming Israel and Palestine were in favor, or 11,599 ballots, compared with 38 percent of total votes who didn’t favor the policy, or 7,992 ballots.
Somerville has had ethical procurement policies before, refusing to do business with companies supporting South African apartheid and those using prison labor, the order notes, but this proposal raises feelings of betrayal from Jews who live in Somerville and say the effort makes them feel picked on and unwelcome. Those include a member of the council, Kristen Strezo, and a School Committee member, Leiran Biton.
“This measure before you is without a doubt an act of hate and discrimination targeted at the only Jewish state in the world and exacerbates the very real persecution that Jews are now facing here in Somerville, across Massachusetts and throughout the world,” Biton said in an emotional speech. “Members of my family have confided in me that they feel angry, scared and afraid. Your actions here are contributing to that. They’re contributing to a Somerville where Jews feel increasingly unsafe, and also where Palestinians are increasingly unsafe.”
Strezo, who identified herself as a “proud Jewish woman,” said the order made Jewish and Israeli constituents feel singled out in a way contrary to Somerville’s Welcoming City Ordinance.
Jewish and Zionist
As in the months of discourse leading up to the November vote, and reflected in discourse around similar topics nationwide, there are leaders and supporters of the proposed policy who are Jewish. They took pains to clarify a potentially more meaningful distinction: While Jewish, they are not Zionists, meaning their identity was apart from the religious or political effort of Jews focused around a biblical homeland. Israel’s dominant political figure, Bibi Netanyahu, has similarities to Donald Trump in policy and a need to stay in power to avoid criminal repercussions.
The sponsors of the policy, Ewen-Campen and Wheeler, are Jewish, as was one of their public speakers – filmmaker Erin Axelman, whose introduction before Strezo was as “a proud Jewish American.”
“I feel completely safe and loved in Somerville. In fact, I’ve never been more proud to live in Somerville than I am now. I’m also a proud anti-Zionist,” Axelman said.
Ewen-Campen, in introducing the order, said he repeatedly had “been told by people that I’m not a real Jew.” He called it “a small sign of the divisions that have been caused by our country’s ongoing support for this genocide,” a reference to Israel’s war in Gaza that followed a shocking incursion by the Hamas group into Israel during a music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and took hundreds more hostage. Dozens died as hostages.
Catcalls and yells
Assurances that the ordinance would be more widely applied than against Israel were greeted with skepticism by some in the crowd packing council chambers, and some remarks were catcalled and greeted by yelled accusations of hypocrisy. President Lance Davis was tolerant of much of the audience response, but a couple of times reprimanded the crowd that the discussion needed decorum.
Wheeler offered one of those assurances that he was “aware that antisemitism can be subtle, and it can show up as double standards. We should keep this in mind as we try to craft policies that capture our principles and apply them fairly.”
Fellow councilor Strezo was among the skeptical, saying that the approach was simplistic and by definition divisive, as any ordinance calling for a boycott-divest-sanction ordinance “makes [Jews] feel singled out. That should be enough.”
“If we are a welcoming city, that welcome cannot carry an asterisk the moment we start deciding who is and who isn’t fully included in the community’s embrace,” Strezo said.
Legal challenge possible
She accused her colleagues of “doublespeak” in writing an ordinance that deferred to a nonbinding ballot question and challenged the naming of Israel and Palestine in the order.
“This ordinance, as drafted, is discriminatory and will be challenged in court. The question is not whether a lawsuit comes – it is how much it is willing to cost us and what we will have to give up to pay for it,” Strezo said.
An April 7 opinion from the city’s Law Department to Ewen-Campen deemed ordinance language it saw in March from an earlier residents’ attempt at a law as “likely invalid” because it falls within categories of when local laws must yield to federal laws. “There appear to be practical and operational implications that we recommend be fully considered,” said the opinion from city attorney Cynthia Amara and a deputy, David Shapiro. It “appears to require divestment from certain humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. We have also not yet vetted the proposed ordinance with impacted city departments.”
Ewen-Campen said his version had substantive differences.
The next Legislative Matters Committee meeting that could hear the ethical procurement proposal is June 30, chair and councilor JT Scott said.
This post was updated June 14, 2026, to clarify that the current proposed ordinance is not the one assessed April 7 by the Law Department.
About The Author
