NORTHAMPTON — A national organization representing 10 Northampton residents has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a resolution unanimously approved by the City Council last fall that calls for divestment from companies allegedly complicit in violations of international law and human rights in Israel and Palestine.
Filed by the National Jewish Advocacy Center on March 26 in Hampshire Superior Court against the city, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and the City Council, the lawsuit contends that the resolution provides no clear, objective definitions for key terms, including “complicity” and “human rights violations.” Because of the ambiguity, NJAC argues that enforcement would be the subjective political judgment of city officials.
The complaint also argues that the resolution is invalid on multiple grounds, including federal and state preemption and breach of fiduciary duty.
“No city council has the power to transform municipal pension funds and public treasuries into instruments of foreign policy,” said Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center. “This resolution is an unlawful abuse of power that puts taxpayer dollars at risk and singles out the Jewish state in a way that stigmatizes Jewish residents.”
The council passed the resolution in response to concerns from residents and activists. The measure urges the Northampton city treasurer and Retirement Board to stop investing in Israeli bonds, as well as companies identified by the nonprofit American Friends Service Committee as complicit in human rights abuses in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Companies listed by the nonprofit include Boeing, Chevron and defense contractor L3Harris, which has a manufacturing facility in Northampton. According to the resolution, the city currently has around $71,000 invested in such companies, and the council’s vote calls for full divestment within two years.
The measure had been recommended by Ward 4 Councilor Jeremy Dubs, Ward 7 Councilor Rachel Maiore and former Ward 1 Councilor Stanley Moulton.
Sciarra, City Solicitor Alan Seewald and Maiore, now the current council president, all declined to comment given that litigation is ongoing.
The NJAC filed the lawsuit on behalf of Northampton residents Kevin Hale, Catherine Robinson, Anthony Fishel, Sianna Lieb, Alan Berkenwald, Miryam Kabakov, Tamar Shadur, Hermine Antlman, Lynn Yanis and Aviva Chill. It’s also being filed in partnership with the Gevura Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting research, legal advocacy, and educational initiatives that address antisemitism, and the law firm Libby Hoopes Brooks & Mulvey.
Ben Schlager, associate director and senior counsel with NJAC, said that, “The significance of the case is that whatever side of a political argument you profess, a municipality may not leverage public money to attempt to referee or seek to influence an international dispute which is the sole province of the federal government.”
He continued, “Municipalities are also prohibited from breaching fiduciary duties to their citizens, pensioners and bondholders, by subordinating return-on-investment considerations to the subjective opinions of self-appointed referees.”
This is the second municipal anti-Israel measure NJAC has challenged in recent weeks. The first, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, seeks to enjoin a similar ordinance passed by the city of Medford.
When the Northampton resolution came before the council last September, dozens of members of the public, many identifying themselves as Jewish, spoke in favor of the measure.
Also supporting the resolution was the Jewish Voice for Peace, which called the lawsuit “legally baseless and morally bankrupt.”
“The lawsuit is just trying to claim that we must only make investments purely on a financial basis, without any regard for the ethical values of the companies we’re invested in,” said Eve Glazier, a Ward 3 resident and member of Jewish Voice for Peace. “This is a serious threat to all movements that are working for a more just world.”
Glazier said lawsuits like these have been used for decades as lawfare, intended to have a “chilling effect” and squash support for solidarity movements with Palestine. She called NJAC a Zionist organization.
“We’re not going to allow it to be effective. If anything, this lawsuit is making us even more committed to ensuring that our tax dollars will never fund apartheid and genocide,” said Glazier.
Schlager responded to the accusation of NJAC being right-wing or Zionist, saying that, “The National Jewish Advocacy Center is a not-for-profit law firm whose attorneys represent a wide range of political and personal beliefs. It is most certainly not ‘right wing,’ but it is unsurprising that there are people who want to distract from the merits of the case by assigning hackneyed labels.”
Founded in 2020, NJAC has been utilizing legal solutions to combat antisemitism, including on college campuses and violence toward synagogues, according to its website.
The lawsuit has the support of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, which bills itself as a central hub for Jewish life across the Pioneer Valley. In a statement, the Federation said it views this specific resolution not as a local policy concern, but as an unlawful intrusion into foreign affairs that creates division within the western Massachusetts community.
“Our mission is to build a vibrant, safe, and welcoming community for everyone in Western Massachusetts,” said Adam Solender, the Interim CEO of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts. “This resolution undermines those efforts by singling out Israel and placing an undue burden on local government to adjudicate complex international conflicts. We stand with the local taxpayers who are calling for a return to sound, lawful municipal governance that respects the boundaries of city authority.”
