A packed house witnessed the Easthampton City Council pass a resolution that urges the city to divest from entities complicit in human rights violations in Israel and Palestine.
Photo credit: E-Media
EASTHAMPTON — Nearly two hours of public comment and 45 minutes of City Council deliberation morphed into collective jubilation inside City Hall on Oct. 21.
As the clock struck 9 p.m., uproarious applause and scattered “thank you, councilors” echoed on the second floor of 50 Payson Ave. The effusive reaction immediately followed the council’s unanimous vote in favor of a resolution that urges the city to divest from entities complicit in human rights violations in Israel and Palestine.
“We must use every tool we have to demand accountability in the end to these atrocities and to ensure our dollars do not subsidize war crimes,” said At Large City Councilor Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid, a sponsor of the resolution. “Silence in the face of such injustice and suffering is not neutrality; it is complicity.”
The outcome comes after months of organizing by community members and a local group called Easthampton Divest, which gathered 535 signatures from residents in support of the language during countless visits to local grocery stores, farmers’ markets and many other community events.
During its campaign, the group found that Easthampton has an estimated $454,000 invested in companies that have been identified by the American Friends Service Committee as “complicit in substantial, ongoing, and intentional violations of international law and human rights in Palestine and Israel.”
According to information provided by the city treasurer, that number includes $395,713 toward GE Aerospace, $9,688 to the RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon) and $13,887 to Palantir Technologies.
As the local conversation ensues, the three-year Israel-Hamas war rages on. According to September statistics provided by the Associated Press, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 74,000 people, and the total wounded has reached 175,000. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage.
Since the ceasefire announced on Oct. 10, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Associated Press. And in late 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory determined that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Easthampton City Council can’t influence federal dollars, but they can urge their local government to reevaluate how the city spends its money. Ultimately, that’s what the resolution does.
“It’s about aligning our investments with the values that we’ve already affirmed,” said Precinct 2 Councilor Felicia Jadczak, another sponsor of the resolution, who also argued that the resolution aligns with the ceasefire in Gaza resolution the council passed in 2024. “What we’re doing is we’re just saying we want to decide where our money goes.”
Most speakers during public comment reflected the council’s feelings and those of more than 500 signees who support the resolution. Reminder Publishing counted 28 in favor and 12 who spoke against it. Those in favor argued the council’s decision was morally responsible, while detractors argued the resolution exacerbated antisemitism and caused division.
Many of those detractors were not Easthampton residents.
“Why single out Israel? As far as I know, no municipality in Massachusetts is invested in Yemen or Sudan or Russia or China or Iran or other countries with human rights abuses,” said Leverett resident Nancy Grossman. “Thus, we’re looking at Israel.”
The majority, however, argued that this resolution is not antisemitic and instead asks the city to look inward at how its funding impacts the inhumane acts invading the Middle East.
“Easthampton is taking sides right now for apartheid and genocide by investing in weapons companies, surveillance companies that support that system,” said Ursula, an Easthampton resident who spoke remotely. “All we’re asking, which is quite a mild ask, is that we stop doing that.”
Many residents argued that the resolution is far from antisemitic.
“I strongly disagree with the implication that this resolution will increase antisemitism,” said Deb Friedman, a Jewish Easthampton resident. “It’s Israel’s actions that are contributing to rising antisemitism and imposing this resolution.”
The resolution was initially introduced in September but was sent to the council’s Finance Committee for further discussion and adjustment. Precinct 3 Councilor Thomas Peake, who chairs the Finance Committee, said the committee worked carefully with the city attorney on the language to ensure the city doesn’t run into the same legal problems other communities, like Northampton, faced when they passed similar resolutions.
The committee also clarified that the council has no supervisory authority to direct the city to make the changes the resolution calls for. Rather, the council can only urge the city to make these divestments.
“We worked with our city attorney to go back and forth and look at the substance of complaints that have been made against other cities and see if there was any way that we could make any changes to the original language that would mitigate at least some, if not hopefully all, of the legal liability that the Council might face in the course of using what I think we all agree is our constitutionally protected free speech to discuss these things,” Peake said.
