NORTHAMPTON — A group of 30 Northampton residents, including 20 members of the local Jewish community, is lending its support to a City Council resolution to divest from entities involved in human rights violations in Israel and Palestine by seeking to intervene in a lawsuit against the city.

In a memorandum made public Thursday, the residents criticized the lawsuit, which was filed in Hampshire Superior Court in March by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, contending that the complaint misrepresents both the law and the resolution the council approved last fall.

The potential intervenors, represented by Northampton attorney Rachel Weber, also warn that what they view as a “right-wing challenge” to a city resolution imperils other ethical investment policies, such as those involving fossil fuels and war profiteering.

Those would include the 2013 City Council resolution divesting from fossil fuel companies and the 2018 executive policy issued by the mayor supporting the mitigation and abolition of nuclear weapons, which itself was inspired by a City Council resolution calling for pulling back from the brink of nuclear war.

Former City Councilor Alisa Klein, a resident for more than 30 years, is among those would-be intervenors.

“I feel a deep moral obligation to support the policies recommended by this resolution,” Klein said in a statement. “I myself am Jewish. I have dual Israeli-American citizenship. I served in the Israeli army for two years, where I began to understand the brutality and injustices of Israeli militarism and apartheid that are now culminating in a systematic genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Another longtime resident involved is Lois Ahrens, who has made her home in the city for 46 years, and describes the “chilling effect” on local movements for justice that the lawsuit against the city could have.

“I was here in Northampton when Massachusetts was a leader in the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa. And 10 years ago, Northampton stood up to divest from fossil fuel companies,” Ahrens said. “This resolution follows in that proud tradition by urging the city to divest funds from entities upholding Israel’s cruel system of apartheid.”

Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, said intervenors are trying to defend a city resolution that uses public money to impose their preferred foreign policy on every taxpayer in Northampton. Thus, Goldfeder said, there is irony in challenging other taxpayers who are questioning whether the city actually had legal authority to do that, and call the lawsuit anti-democratic.

“The democratic move is judicial review,” Goldfeder said. “The anti-democratic move is telling residents they must finance an ideological boycott campaign and then shut up about it.”

Eve Glazier, a city resident and member of Jewish Voice for Peace, wrote in an email that if intervention is allowed, the intervenors would become a party to the lawsuit on the city’s side in defense of the resolution, and be able to offer input through legal filings.

“In this particular context, that means that the court would consider the legal arguments raised by intervenors explaining why the policy recommended by the resolution — divesting from companies identified as complicit with human rights abuses and violations of international law in Israel and Palestine — is entirely lawful,” Glazier said.

The lawsuit against the city, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and the City Council was brought on behalf of 10 residents. It states that the resolution provides no clear, objective definitions for key terms, including “complicity” and “human rights violations.” Because of the ambiguity, the plaintiffs argue that enforcement would be up to 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.

Northampton residents Kevin Hale, Catherine Robinson, Anthony Fishel, Sianna Lieb, Alan Berkenwald, Miryam Kabakov, Tamar Shadur, Hermine Antlman, Lynn Yanis and Aviva Chill are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was also 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.

On May 29, Sciarra and City Solicitor Alan Seewald moved to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that the resolution, adopted unanimously on Sept. 18, is nonbinding and that, because it’s expressive, it doesn’t direct any city officials to take any specifics action.

Proposed intervenors include residents deeply involved in Northampton’s Jewish community, former public officials, healthcare workers and professors. In addition to Klein, Ahrens and Glazier, they are Jennifer Bender, Hannah Bernhard, Mariel Boyarsky, Ella Carlson, Marcello Federico, Anne Fine, Jane Fleishman, Kaila Goldstein, Marc Gurvitch, Madelyn Hayes, Catherine Hodes, Jonathan Liebman, Nicholas Mottern, Elizabeth Rogers, Amina M. Steinfels, Caroline Stewart, Joan Tabachnick, Rene Theberge, Susan Theberge, Yotam Tubul, Nathan Watson, Weaver, Olivia White, Jayme Winell, Noah Winer, Judith Wisch and Katherine Yagle.

The original resolution cited Amnesty International and its 2022 report that Israel imposes apartheid against Palestinians across Israel and on occupied Palestinian land, as well as the International Court of Justice, which two years later ruled that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal, and that all states and international organizations have a legal obligation not to recognize or assist the occupation.

The resolution called for the city to divest its funds from companies meeting the American Friends Service Committee’s extensive criteria for substantial, ongoing, and intentional complicity in violations of international law and human rights. As of January 2025, Northampton had more than $70,000 invested in companies meeting these criteria, including the First International Bank of Israel and weapons manufacturer RTX, formerly known as Raytheon.