Somerville, Palestine, Israel. Get Ready for More Active Bystander Intervention
Two things happened within a week in Somerville Massachusetts.
- A legal resident, Rumeysa Ozturk, was fulfilling the requirements of the academic visa that allowed her to study in the US. She was detained and illegally stripped of her residency. Then she was arrested and transported interstate against the orders of a Massachusetts judge. Her crime was having an opinion and putting it in print in the Tufts newspaper.
There was a rally at Powderhouse Park near Tufts University the next day, on March 26th, in support of Rumeysa Ozturk . Between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended to voice their opposition to her illegal detention in Louisiana following her arrest by ICE.
People came to that rally entirely in support of her right to have an opinion about Palestine while studying. Some agreed with her opinion. Some did not.
- The next night, March 27th, 34 registered voters submitted a petition to place a question on the ballot to end city business and prohibit future investments and contracts with companies engaging in business with Israel. This is an action consistent with the published writing of Rumeysa Ozturk. The Somerville City Council voted 9-2 against a ballot question. Now, there will be a petition campaign to put it on the ballot for this November. [Legistar for more information]
For Jewish people in Somerville, this is a classic double-bind. The Somerville Jewish community — and the American Jewish community in general – are getting played by the current Republican administration.
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- The deportations are being done in the name of “supporting American Jews and Israel.”
- Targeting pro-Hamas immigrants is stoking resentment and hate against American Jews and invigorating pro-Palestinian activists.
- ICE is arresting people in a way that the vast majority of Jews think is wrong.
- American Jews are rightly uncomfortable with some of the pro-Palestinian rhetoric that calls for violence against Israelis and Jews in general.
How do Jewish people in Somerville stand up for Rumeysa Orturk and other legal residents who have been targeted for deportation without accepting all their goals?
There is a broad variety of opinion on the problems of the Netanyahu (Israeli) leadership and Hamas (Palestinian) leadership. There are human rights abuses — on a large scale — from both of those administrations.
This has happened before in Somerville.
In 2005 there was an attempt to require that the City of Somerville divest from Israel and companies who make weapons of war for Israel. Activists gathered 1,170 signatures to get their petition in front of the Board of Aldermen (now called the City Council).
“The Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville urges all investors in the city to divest from companies involved with Israel’s human rights violations and from Israel Bonds.” [source: Tufts Daily]
The measure failed by a 10-1 vote.
A conflict where no bystander came forward:
This was my experience at that time with a man in Davis Square who was gathering signatures. This happened at night in late summer or early fall of 2005.
(These are not direct quotes, since this happened about 20 years ago).
He: Are you Jewish, will you talk to me about Israel?
Me: I don’t want to talk to you about Israel.
He: You don’t want to talk to me about Israel because they … (a list a military abuse by the Israel Defense Force).
I walked away. He followed. For about five minutes, he walked so close to me that he was banging against my thigh. He was screaming about IDF abuse and demanding that I answer him.
Me: I do not want to talk to you about Israel. (I repeated that each time he demanded an answer).
I just looked at Google maps: we walked about .3 miles like this. That takes eight minutes at a normal pace.
The conversation went the same way, over and over, until I had had enough.
Me: I don’t want to talk to you about Israel. You are not taking no for an answer. Go away!
He: You don’t want to talk to me about Israel because I am a Black man.
That’s when I lost my temper.
Me: I said I don’t want to talk to you. Period. It has nothing to do with you being a Black man. You are a man. You are tall man. You are yelling at me. You have been following me home. AND YOU ARE TOO DAMN CLOSE. Now, back off and go away.
He did.
Active bystander notes on this:
- The faster I walked, the more the situation seemed to escalate.
- When he made the race comment, I stopped suddenly. I looked him in the eye, and I was screaming for the first time in the encounter.
- The change of pace and change of tone shocked him into leaving me alone.