Proposed anti-Israel referendum fails
Not On Our Dime acknowledged it did not collect the requisite number of signatures to get the referendum on the ballot
This is a developing story.
A proposed referendum that could have prohibited the City of Pittsburgh from doing business with the state of Israel, or with companies that do business with Israel, has been defeated.
The Project for Responsive Democracy acknowledged before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge John T. McVay that its Not On Our Dime referendum petition lacked enough valid signatures from registered Pittsburgh voters to qualify for the May primary election ballot.
It’s the second time in less than a year that anti-Israel activists sought to have Pittsburgh residents vote to boycott the Jewish state. Their attempt last summer also failed.
While Not On Our Dime collected more than 21,000 purported signatures, multiple reviews showed that far fewer than the required 12,459 were valid.
The petition had been challenged by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh as well as City Controller Rachael Heisler.
Both the Federation and Heisler challenged the referendum question on legal grounds broader than the signature issue, but they were not considered by McVay because because the Project for Responsive Democracy acknowledged that not enough signatures were collected.
The proposed referendum “posed a direct threat to our city’s values and financial stability, jeopardizing Pittsburgh’s ability to provide vital services,” Federation officials said in a news release.
The Federation, StandWithUs and Beacon Coalition worked together to assemble more than 200 volunteers to review every signature.
“The invalid signatures included 1,076 duplicates (including circulators who signed their own pages multiple times), 3,305 signers residing outside of Pittsburgh, and more than 2,800 signers not registered as voters in the region (if at all),” according to Beacon Coalition officials. “Notably, Beacon Coalition also discovered that more than 6,000 signatures were gathered by canvassers who are not residents of Pittsburgh.”
“Their failure to secure the necessary valid petition signatures sends a clear message: The citizens of Pittsburgh reject their reckless and dangerous agenda,” said Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Federation.
“This is a great day, and I feel a huge sense of relief,” Julie Paris, MidAtlantic regional director of StandWithUs, wrote on Facebook. “I can’t help but feel deep concern as well. The fact that anti-Israel extremists were able to collect so many signatures and spread such dangerous misinformation shows how quickly antisemitism is spreading in our community.
“Their ultimate goal is to normalize discrimination against Jews and demonize Israel. History teaches us that this kind of tactic has pushed Jews out of communities where we’ve lived peacefully for decades, centuries, and even millennia,” she added. “I know many of us will continue to fight for Israel and for our right to live in this incredible community. We will keep using our voices to stand against this wave of hate.” PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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