A referendum on a Berkeley ballot, voted on in conjunction with the Califomia Presidential primary, calling for cuts in United States aid to Israel, was defeated by a nearly three-to-one vote, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Middle East Peace and Justice reported today.
She said the vote was 29,279 against and 12,107 for in the voting on Measure E, the title for the referendum. Berkeley has 68,000 registered voters.
The proposal, placed on the ballot by an adhoc group called Taxpayers for Peace in the Middle East (TAPME), declared that “the people of the City of Berkeley call on the United States government to reduce its yearly aid to Israel by an amount equal to what it determines to be the most accurate approximation of what Israel spends annually on its settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.”
TAPME was created by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which has headquarters in Washington.
Passage of the amendment would have required the major of Berkeley to write letters to President Reagan, Secretary of State George Shultz, Califomia two Senators and Congressional representatives announcing the vote for the aid cut.
A newsletter of the American-Arab University Graduates claimed that an almost identical resolution was adopted at a February 20 lowa precinct causcus. New Orleans, the proposal failed for lack of petition signatures. In Ann Arbor, the City Council rejected such a measure.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
