Congress Members Lead Opposition to Question 5

Now that public figures such as Representatives Barney Frank (D.-Mass.) and Joseph P. Kennedy II (D.-Mass.) are taking positions on the Cambridge ballot question calling for a Palestinian state, organizers on both sides say that the race is heating up.

Frank and Kennedy serve as directors of an organization set up to oppose the referendum, which appears as Question Five on the ballot. They argue that it could be used as an unfair tool against a friendly ally, Israel.

"The United States does not determine what is going on in the Middle East," Kennedy said last Tuesday in a speech at Harvard. "The region has been in conflict for many years. The resolution is a lousy way of trying to influence it."

"We have an ally and a friend in Israel. Israel has been willing to negotiate land for peace," Kennedy said.

With regard to Kennedy's statement, Trig Tarazi '89, president of the Society of Arab Students said, "The United States does determine what is going on when they give $45 billion to one side in a conflict and not the other. As for negotiations, they want to negotiate with groups other than the Palestinians; they try to talk with the Jordans and the Syrians," Tarazi said.

Matthew Gordon, a coordinator with the Coalition for Palestinian Rights, said he considered Kennedy out of step with the common consensus. "We felt that a vote was the only way to make our opinion known to those that represent us," said Gordon.

Gordon's organization sponsored the campaign to place Question Five on the ballot in Cambridge and parts of Somerville. They have continued their efforts with a fundraising drive and a continual media campaign designed to "convince voters that to vote no would be to condone violence against civilians and their basic human rights," said Gordon.

The organization has paid for newspaper and radio advertising. Members are writing and submitting editorials to all local newspapers. They also have begun distributing leaflets and bumper stickers as part of a city-wide mailing.

Question 5 Text

Officially, Question Five reads: "Shall the Representatives from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon Congress and the President of the United States to achieve peace in the Middle East by: demanding that Israel end its violations of Palestinian human rights and its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; stopping all expenditures of U.S. taxpayers' money for Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; and favoring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with peace for all in the region including Israel?"

"The question is nonbinding, meaning that it only tries to discern public opinion on the issue and that representatives are not required to take any action on the outcome," said Philip Griffiths, assistant director of the Cambridge Election Commission.

Many Harvard professors have criticized the referendum, but a few others have endorsed it.

"The United States must recognize the need to move towards a resolution of mutual self-determination, mutual recognition, and mutual security for the Israeli and Palestinian people," said History of Science Professor Everett I. Mendelsohn.

But former Congressional candidate James Roosevelt '68 said yesterday, "Question Five is a one-sided, purely anti-Israel, pro-PLO piece of propaganda that tries to cut off our only ally in the Middle East." Roosevelt, now a Boston lawyer, also wrote an article criticizing the referendum in last week's edition of the Cambridge Chronicle.