00:00In other topics in the United States, in addition to the candidates on the ballot in the mid-term elections,
00:05some states also decided specific policies at the ballot box, precisely in Providence, Rhode Island.
00:12An overwhelming 75% of voters passed an ordinance calling for the city to divest public funds from Israel.
00:20Our colleague Dan Albright has more details.
00:25Hey, yes, thanks for the connection.
00:27I'm here in Providence, Rhode Island, where voters have just passed overwhelmingly 75% to divest from Israel,
00:36specifically municipal funds complicit in apartheid, genocide, and severe human rights abuses.
00:44This is the first in the United States measure passed by popular vote that is municipally binding
00:52and makes Providence the largest city in the nation to divest from Israel.
00:59So I'm here now joined by Zach Kliegler, an organizer with Providence for Palestine.
01:08Zach, what can you tell us about these results? How do you interpret it?
01:13I think what we saw on Tuesday night is what we already knew going into this campaign,
01:18which is that the people are with Palestine.
01:19The people don't want their tax dollars or any government funds from the local to the federal level
01:25supporting Israel's genocide in Gaza or apartheid system.
01:29And that was demonstrated resoundingly on Tuesday night with 75% of the vote.
01:35It's a real mandate for change, and it should be heard across the country and around the world.
01:41And Providence also elected Democratic Socialist David Morales as mayor.
01:49The mayor-elect. Any connection there between that issue and the Socialist Electoral Project?
01:55Absolutely. They have been deeply tied together throughout the campaign in Providence.
01:59Mayor-elect Morales has been supportive of the divestment campaign since day one.
02:04He spoke actually right where we're standing in the Riff Raff Courtyard at our launch party
02:08when we got on the ballot.
02:10And I think in a broader lens, this is really a demonstration that Palestine,
02:16Palestine solidarity, an end to U.S. wars and genocide abroad
02:20is core to the Socialist Project in the United States,
02:23right alongside housing, immigrant justice, all of that,
02:27as issues that the people care deeply about and that will mobilize
02:31and will build a mass movement for change in this country.
02:34So where does your movement go next, or what are its next steps?
02:39Yeah, absolutely. I want to say we should not at all be fooled by Donald Trump's rhetoric
02:44or the rhetoric of any other politician that remains deeply invested
02:49in the military-industrial complex when it comes to cutting off aid to Israel.
02:53Changing the form of that aid is not cutting off aid.
02:57And I think, you know, this is a movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions,
03:02but it's also a movement against centering our economy and our government
03:05around the military industry, around continued war and genocide around the world.
03:11And so we absolutely plan to continue that project here in Rhode Island,
03:15both through divestment and through working to end all forms of investment
03:22in the military-industrial complex and transition away from that as a central pillar of the economy.
03:27I think that's an essential project of the left in the United States,
03:31to work to move our economy away from being centered around war and destruction
03:36and towards industries that support human flourishing and growth and life.
03:42All right. Zach, thank you so much for speaking with me and our viewers.
03:48As I mentioned, I spoke with David Morales, the now mayor-elect of Providence,
03:54Democratic Socialists, last week on this issue in an exclusive interview with Telesor.
04:01Let's listen to a bit of that.
04:05Regardless of what political pressures we may face,
04:09regardless of some of the attempted suppression of speech that has happened over the recent years,
04:14it is our responsibility as respective community members, as advocates, as activists,
04:19to actively speak out against the genocide happening in Gaza
04:22and also to use the levers that we can when it comes to local and state government
04:27to take action and go beyond just speaking out,
04:30but actually having concrete action that follows.
04:32And divestment is an example on how the city of Providence is taking that lead.
04:37So we'll be following the latest updates on this issue from the ground here in the United States.
04:43Dan Albright, Telesor, Providence. Back to you.
04:47Live in tutaj next.
04:47Myreg용s.
