Thursday, October 26, 2006
...and we were, as Divestment in Somerville is Ron Francis's other hobby when he's not propagandizing the kids in Andover. There are lots of letters pro and con in Somerville Journal this week:
In order to understand the real underlying issues of the Somerville Divestment Project's deceitful effort to con voters into supporting Questions 5 and 6 on Election Day, a few simple facts will suffice...
...Lastly, Mr. Francis, who has spearheaded this initiative, is a schoolteacher in Andover and, thus, is a member of the State Teachers Retirement System, yet he has chosen to ask the employees and retirees of the city of Somerville and "indirectly" the taxpayers to support his position and suffer any financial consequences that occur. How convenient for him that he does not ask his own pension system, of which he has a much greater financial stake, to assume the same burden. Apparently, he is an advocate for "human rights" only when it adds no risk to his own pension. Again, please vote "no" on Question 6.
On Nov. 7, you will be asked to vote on Question 5, which asks that the descendants of Palestinians who left Israel in 1948 - and who now number in the millions - all be allowed to return to Israel. The intention of this "right of return" is to put an end to Israel as a democratic Jewish state that protects the civil rights of all minorities, and to replace it with a Muslim state. The promoters of this initiative depend on lies and distortions to support their case...
There's a lot more, pro and con...readers with good recall will recognize many of the "con" (actually, those urging a "yes" vote) names...and themes..."Ignore the lobbies, vote yes"...
As a left-wing Jew who opposes the Occupation and the policies of past and present Israeli governments, I was ambivalent about divestment for a long time. It initially looked like a possibly productive way to express disapproval of the Likud Party and its practices.
What eventually pushed me off the fence was the increasingly obnoxious behavior of SDP and its supporters. They had to be ejected by police from a Board of Aldermen meeting after a vote didn't go their way, They then refused to follow established procedures when trying to qualify a question for the city election ballot, and whined about 'lack of democracy' after a judge ruled against them.
Ron Francis harassed a friend of mine outside a polling station, calling her a racist. Most recently, SDP surrounded a Progessive Democrats of Somerville endorsement meeting with signs and banners, attacking one of the two candidates because she opposed divestment.
A vote for question 5 or 6 is a vote for more such behavior in our city. Vote no.