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Montpelier residents debate Article 13 advisory question on Israel and Palestine at city council public comment
Summary
Multiple residents, including Jewish community leaders, spoke during public comment urging the city to vote against Article 13 on the March ballot; speakers described the measure as one-sided and warned it risks increasing antisemitism, while others proposed alternative language to promote peace and reconciliation.
During the public-comment period of the Montpelier City Council meeting, several residents addressed Article 13, an advisory ballot item related to Israel and Palestine that will appear on the March ballot.
Speakers included longtime residents and local Jewish leaders who urged voters and the council to oppose Article 13, calling it one-sided and potentially harmful to Montpelier’s Jewish community. Rabbi Tobi Wiseman, executive director of Jewish Communities of Vermont, said the measure “is targeting that connection, and by extension, intimidating Jews in Montpelier and throughout the state of Vermont,” and appealed to the council to oppose the item. Multiple speakers, including Rebecca and Phyllis Rubinstein, described incidents of antisemitic vandalism in the community and said the advisory language risked furthering falsehoods and danger.
Other commenters framed the question differently. Steven McArthur and others proposed alternate language promoting peace and reconciliation and named several organizations working on Israeli–Palestinian dialogue, arguing for a balanced, nonpartisan approach. Paul Carnahan, who said he has a Jewish family, urged a “no” vote on Article 13 because he considered its final language one-sided and hurtful to Jewish residents.
Speakers noted the city council’s limited authority over foreign-policy questions but said the ballot language nonetheless affects local community relations. The public-comment segment devoted to Article 13 concluded with calls for residents to read the petition and to exercise voting judgment in March.
