In a landslide vote, the residents of Cunningham Township have chosen to urge the United States government to stop allocating money to Israel. The Nov. 5 vote saw 70.25% of voters in support of divestment and 29.75% against it, the Champaign County Clerk’s Office reported.
Although this is a non-binding referendum, “It sends a powerful message to our government and the rest of the world,” said one Instagram post by the Champaign-Urbana branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
This referendum came after local groups, including the CU Muslim Action Committee and UC Jews for Ceasefire, led canvassing efforts to persuade residents to vote “yes.”
On the back side of their ballot, Urbana residents saw that Question 1 read: “Shall the United States federal government and subordinate divisions stop giving military funding to Israel, which currently costs taxpayers 3.8 billion dollars a year, given Israel’s global recognition as an apartheid regime with a track record of human rights violations?”
In an interfaith coalition five days before Election Day, CU MAC and UC Jews for Ceasefire held a press conference at the Channing Murray Foundation in Urbana to inform the community of the referendum. According to CU MAC member Dua Aldasouqi, most of the public is in support of imposing an arms embargo on Israel.
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One Instagram post by CU MAC said that the U.S.’ violation of the Leahy Law, which bans the U.S. government from funding or assisting foreign forces committing human rights abuses, is the legal basis for this call for divestment.
Israel has faced international scrutiny for human rights abuses. The International Court of Justice ruled Israel must end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, and the United Nations General Assembly called for an arms embargo due to Israel’s evidenced violation of human rights.
Israel has long affirmed it is under existential threat from surrounding Arab nations in the Middle East and cannot afford to put down its weapons. Supporters of Israel worry about the otherwise lack of support for the Jewish state, and it is this reasoning, said the U.S. Department of Defense, that the U.S. must continue to protect Israel from attacks from its adversaries.
The U.S. has maintained this principle as central to its foreign policy approach to Israel-Palestine, even though many large cities and towns in the U.S. have passed ceasefire resolutions during the ongoing war to urge the federal government to push for a ceasefire. Unlike the resolutions passed in Chicago and Atlanta, this resolution focuses on an arms embargo.
“This decisive, community-led movement shows the power of grassroots organizing and solidarity,” a press release from CU MAC said. “The coalition that made this possible consists of a diverse group, including Muslim and Jewish residents, LGBTQIA individuals, and people across all political affiliations who are uniting for peace and justice.”
