Northampton City Council Votes Unanimously to Divest Funds from Israeli Apartheid and Companies Fueling Genocide

More than 150 Northampton residents packed the city council meeting Thursday night in support of the resolution to divest city funds from companies complicit in human rights violations, citing the need for local action in ending the US-backed Israeli genocide. 

Source: Jewish Voice for Peace Western MA

In a City Council meeting packed with residents on Thursday night September 18, councilors unanimously passed R-25.314 A Resolution Calling For The City Of Northampton To Divest From Entities Complicit In Human Rights Violations In Israel And Palestine. Forty-one community members spoke in favor of the resolution – more than half of whom were Jewish – filling the entire ninety-minute public comment period.

Councillors Dubs, Maiore, and Moulton introduced the resident-led resolution, which was spearheaded by community members from Jewish Voice for Peace Western MA, River Valley Democratic Socialists of America, Demilitarize Western MA, and Showing Up for Racial Justice Western MA. The resolution comes on the heels of the recent UN finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, as well as a briefing from Amnesty International earlier today calling on municipalities to “pull the plug” on enabling Israel’s crimes.

Ward 3 resident Ella Carlson said:

“This is a local issue. Israel cannot drop bombs on Palestinian civilians without buying them from companies like RTX and GE Aerospace; they cannot expand illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory without funding from the First International Bank of Israel and cement from companies like Heidelberg Materials. Northampton tax dollars are invested in each of these companies. By passing this resolution, the city of Northampton can live its values by divesting from the companies that enable and profit from apartheid, land theft, and genocide.” 

Residents also drew historical parallels to the successful campaign to divest from apartheid in South Africa, as well as the more recent movement to divest from fossil fuels. Ward 4 resident Matt Spurlock said:

“Forty years ago, Massachusetts was a leader in the movement for municipal and state divestment from apartheid South Africa. And just ten years ago, Northampton stood up to divest from fossil fuel companies. This resolution follows in that proud tradition by divesting funds from entities upholding Israel’s cruel system of racial apartheid, its illegal occupation, its war crimes in Gaza, and its ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.” 

As of January 2025, Northampton had more than $70,000 invested in companies including the First International Bank of Israel – which finances the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank – and RTX (formerly Raytheon), the world’s second-largest military company, which makes missiles, bombs, components for fighter jets, and other weapon systems used by the Israeli military against Palestinian civilians. 

In passing this resolution, Northampton becomes only the second city in Massachusetts to divest from funds tied to human rights violations in Israel and Palestine, following the city of Medford’s decision to divest from companies complicit in human rights violations last month. 

Watch the video of the council meeting here.