A Boston metropolis councilor is being slammed for making “antisemitic” statements that perpetuate a “dangerous myth” about “excessive Jewish power and influence” in world affairs, two Jewish teams say.
The Anti-Defamation League of New England and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston each launched statements Thursday criticizing the “troubling” remarks made by Tania Fernandes Anderson at this week’s City Council assembly.
“Drawing on the oldest tropes about Jewish power and influence to make a political statement is not just unacceptable, it is antisemitic,” Rabbi Dr. Jonah Steinberg, ADL New England regional director, mentioned in a press release.
“Excessive Jewish power and influence controlling global affairs is a dangerous myth where Jews are cast as manipulative schemers who use money and influence to advance an evil agenda,” he added.
“Words matter,” Steinberg mentioned, saying that whereas the ADL welcomes a dialog, the “community deserves an apology” from the councilor.
When introducing a decision calling for de-escalation and a ceasefire in Israel and “occupied Palestine,” Fernandes Anderson made remarks insinuating that the violence in opposition to Israeli individuals was garnering extra consideration due to their “money and influence.”
“Nobody wants people to die,” Fernandes Anderson mentioned. “The Holocaust was horrific. The African holocaust was horrific. The Australian holocaust of the Aborigines was horrific. But when we start talking, we only talk about people with money and influence.”
She added, “We never talk about Black people. We never talk about people suffering. We never talk about brown people. So if you’re Indian and you’re Palestinian, nobody gets up and supports any of this stuff.”
Her decision was filed in response to 1 put ahead earlier within the week by Councilor Michael Flaherty, who wished to sentence “Hamas and their brutal terrorist acts against Israel.”
In it, Fernandes Anderson refers back to the Hamas terrorist group as a “militant group” and characterizes the Oct. 7 assault that killed over 1,400 Israelis, amongst them girls, youngsters and infants, as a “massive military operation,” language that sparked outrage from a few of her colleagues.
The decision additional states that Israel’s insurance policies and actions towards the Palestinian individuals have been acknowledged by worldwide human rights teams as “apartheid,” and Israel’s current actions to chop electrical energy, gasoline and water sources from Gaza represent “war crimes.”
“At a time when our community should be attuned to the risks and challenges of antisemitism in all its forms, we, and our member organizations, representing a multiplicity of Jewish perspectives, found Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s recent comments troubling,” Jeremy Burton, JCRC govt director, mentioned in a press release.
He added, “In civic debate, there should be no place for perpetuating long-persistent antisemitic tropes, such as Jewish individuals as wealthy and powerful, ignoring the historical underpinnings of antisemitism as a term literally created to frame hatred of the Jewish community in a precise way, and obfuscating the historic origins of the Jewish people in the region that is now called Israel.”
While his group’s choice is dialogue, it couldn’t depart her public feedback unaddressed “at a time when the emotional and physical safety of the Jewish community in the U.S. and beyond is at risk,” Burton mentioned.
“We will continue to make efforts to meet with members of the Council,” he mentioned, “to share our perspective and understanding of these ideas that are both divisive and inaccurate.”
Fernandes Anderson didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”