This a reminder that the third meeting of Massachusetts’ Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism will be held tomorrow, January 23rd @ 1pm. Please join us either at the State House or via live stream.
What to Expect
The Commission will continue discussing Antisemitism in MA public and private K-12 schools at the January 23 meeting, focusing on the psychological impact of antisemitism on school children, the role of Holocaust education in addressing antisemitism and First Amendment concerns in schools.
The meeting is also expected to start with a presentation from the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Antisemitism Research highlighting their survey of parents on Antisemitism and Holocaust Education. The ADL openly obfuscates antisemitism and political speech, making its data-gathering on antisemitic incidents extremely untrustworthy. Persisting in this conflation, the ADL’s report, which will be the subject of the Jan 23rd Commission meeting, combines antisemitism data with “anti-Israel bias” and recommends that schools “ensure that lesson plans are free from antisemitic bias toward Jews or the State of Israel”, making the case for censorship of reference to Palestine and Palestinians in schools.
The ADL has long lacked organizational legitimacy within civil rights and progressive organizations, including in the progressive Jewish community and its own staff. Just this Monday, the ADL defended Elon Musk’s Nazi salute yet has previously compared a Palestinian kiffeyeh to a swastika.
We remain concerned about a lack of diversity in Jewish perspectives represented on the Commission and reiterate our opposition to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a controversial definition that is opposed by academics and experts on antisemitism and Holocaust scholars in the U.S., Israel, and around the world.We urge you to join us at Thursday’s Commission meeting to understand the proposals advanced at the Commission meetings by advocacy organizations. Then reach out to your own State Representative and Senator to educate them about these proceedings and your concerns.
