A legislative committee reviewing a bill to divest all state pension funds from companies supplying weapons to Israel to fight in the Gaza Strip heard from over 30 Bay Staters supporting the measure and none opposing it.
Speaking before the Joint Committee on Public Service on July 16, Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville) said she filed House Bill 2984 to divest state pension funds from companies that supply arms to Israel out of “a moral calling.”
If enacted, the measure would direct the agency that manages Massachusetts employees’ pension funds – the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board – to reallocate all stocks, securities and other financial obligations currently invested in any company selling weapons to Israel. Pensioners’ investments could stay with a company if it announces that it will not renew or enter into new contracts for weapon sales to Israel.
“We have been bearing witness to a genocide, apartheid and a humanitarian crisis,” Uyterhoeven said, “with over 2 million Palestinians who are not only on the brink of starvation, but are killed daily for merely trying to feed themselves.” Uyterhoeven offered statistics from a consortium of international organizations claiming 925,000 Gazans – 44% of the population – are experiencing “acute food insecurity” and another quarter million are in “catastrophe mode.”
Uyterhoeven said the bill addresses Massachusetts’s “complicit[y] in these atrocities” by ensuring “our public dollars are no longer used to fund violence against Palestinians.”
Over 30 state residents testified in person or online in support of the proposed legislation, including members of Jewish Voice For Peace, Massachusetts Peace Action and Unitarian Universalist Mass Action. Companies they named as facilitating military operations in Gaza included not only arms manufacturers like General Dynamics and Raytheon but also tech firms such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Also testifying was Greg Hersh, a member of Rabbis for Ceasefire, who related the Talmudic prohibition against selling weapons to known murderers. “The Jewish tradition does not support killing people as a path to peace,” he said.
No one testified against the bill at the hearing. In an email, the American Jewish Committee New England discouraged its members from speaking in person, instead suggesting they submit written testimony before the July 30 deadline. The email noted AJC “has been working closely with our organizational partners and consulting with state legislators to highlight the many troubling aspects of this bill.”
“The indication we had is that there isn’t much support for this bill,” noted AJC Regional Director Rob Leikind. “We didn’t know what purpose adding oxygen to this discussion was going to serve.” Leikind could not speculate on how many written testimonies the state panel received.
In a July 24 email, the Israeli-American Council also urged constituents to file written testimony opposing H.2984. The council suggested letters conclude, “This bill risks the financial health of our state, unfairly targets Israel, and sets a dangerous precedent. Please protect Massachusetts pensioners and reject this legislation.”
The measure was cosponsored by Representatives Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge), Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster) and Samantha Montaño (D-Boston). According to House rules, the committee must report on the bill within 60 days of the hearing, unless granted an extension. The committee can vote to report favorably, report unfavorably, or issue a study order, which essentially kills the measure.
Contact reporter Brett M. Rhyne at brett@jewishjournal.org.
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