As Wendell prepares to vote on an Apartheid Free Community (AFC) resolution — and
with Leverett potentially following suit later this spring — I write to share my serious
concerns about what is, at its core, a divisive and problematic proposal that has no
place in local town governance.

On March 3, Vermont’s State Town Meeting Day offered a powerful and instructive
signal. Of the more than 20 towns targeted to vote on an AFC resolution, only eight choose to have a town vote, and four passed it (with three by small margins). Montpelier’s residents — Vermont’s state capital — rejected the resolution. Burlington’s City Council rejected it in January and instead passed a Community Dialogue Resolution. These decisions reflect that Vermont towns are choosing to focus on creating inclusive and welcoming communities, ensuring the safety of residents, declining to inject international conflicts into local town meetings, and on managing the nuts and bolts of their municipalities such as housing, schools, road, utilities, conservation, construction, and buildings.

Whatever one’s views on the conflict in the Middle East, municipalities are not designed as a forum to address international issues. Regarding the Apartheid-Free resolution, it singles out one nation for condemnation at a level of government that has no jurisdiction, no expertise, and no legitimate role in adjudicating an extraordinarily complex international situation. Passing such a resolution does not bring peace or justice to anyone abroad. What it does do is import division and pain into our own neighborhoods, and risks making Jewish residents and others feel unwelcome in the very communities they call home.

Municipalities exist to serve all of their residents. Building a truly inclusive and welcoming community means ensuring that all residents — including Jewish residents — feel safe, respected, and at home. AFC resolutions undermine that mission. I urge Wendell’s voters and leaders to consider whether an AFC resolution achieves that goal, or whether it does the opposite. The evidence from Vermont on March 3 suggests that many communities, upon careful reflection, have concluded it does not.

Amy E. Mager

Northampton