Superior Court Upholds Northampton Resolution to Divest from Israeli Apartheid

Hampshire County judge dismisses challenge to city’s divestment resolution, handing victory to movement to divest from companies enabling apartheid in Israel and Palestine.

Source: Apartheid Divest Northampton

In what is among the nation’s first rulings on municipal action to divest from Israeli apartheid, the Hampshire Superior Court upheld Northampton’s resolution to divest from companies enabling apartheid in Israel and Palestine. Northampton residents, including a group of 30 residents and taxpayers who formally moved to intervene in the lawsuit in defense of the divestment resolution in June, as well as supporters of the divestment movement across the state and the nation, celebrated the victory.

The Resolution Calling For The City Of Northampton To Divest From Entities Complicit In Human Rights Violations In Israel And Palestine (R-25.314) was passed unanimously by city council last September following overwhelming public support. When it was challenged in court, 30 Northampton residents, including twenty members of the city’s Jewish community, came out to defend the city’s right to make investments that align with values of peace, justice, and human rights.

The judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit comes after over 100 supporters rallied outside the courtroom before the hearing on August 26. In her statement at the rally and press conference, intervenor Alisa Klein, a former city councilor who has lived in Northampton for more than three decades, said:

“It is not unprecedented nor is it illegal for a city to ensure its investments are not complicit in perpetrating harm.”

Intervenor Judi Wisch, a Jewish educator who has lived in Northampton for more than two decades, said:

“When the younger generation asks me: ‘What did you do when Israel was acting out, taking vengeance, trying to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land?’ I want to have an answer.”

The city council resolution cites Amnesty International, which concluded in 2022 that Israel imposes apartheid against Palestinians across Israel and on occupied Palestinian land, as well as the International Court of Justice, which ruled in 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem is illegal, and that all states and international organizations have a legal obligation not to recognize or assist the occupation. The resolution calls for the city to divest its funds from companies meeting the American Friends Service Committee’s extensive criteria for substantial, ongoing, and intentional complicity in violations of international law and human rights. As of January 2025, Northampton had more than $70,000 invested in companies meeting these criteria, including the First International Bank of Israel – which finances the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank – and weapons manufacturer RTX (formerly Raytheon).

Apartheid Divest Northampton is a grassroots campaign of Northampton residents committed to aligning the city’s investments with the values of peace, justice, and human rights.