Political Notebook: Auchincloss slams group for 'antisemitic tropes'
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss says a report released last week by a Boston-area Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement group plays on “millennia-old antisemitic tropes” and could inflame violence against the Jewish community.
The group, calling itself the Mapping Project, alleges sinister connections between Jewish and pro-Israel groups across Massachusetts and government, politicians, the police and the media, according to the Jewish Insider. It also blames these groups for a range of nefarious activities.
The Mapping Project “plotted the locations of the organizations on an interactive state map — drawing lines between the Jewish groups and institutions the project claims they influence — and released the addresses and names of some of the groups’ staffers,” the Insider says.
The organization describes itself as “a multi-generational collective of activists and organizers on the land of the Massachusett, Pawtucket, Naumkeag, and other tribal nations” — aka Boston, Cambridge and surrounding towns.
Locally, the Mapping Project’s links include police departments in practically every area town as well as Kraft Family Philanthropies in Foxboro.
“This is just chilling to me. It is tapping into millennia-old antisemitic tropes about nefarious Jewish wealth, control, conspiracy, media connections and political string-pulling,” Auchincloss, who is himself Jewish, told the Insider.
The Newton Democract represents the Attleboro area in Congress as well as Boston suburbs with a large Jewish population.
“To name names and keep lists, which has a very sinister history in Judaism, in terms of how we are targeted, is very irresponsible. (The group) needs to take this down and apologize,” he said.
Auchincloss this past week also announced a slate of endorsements for New England Democrats ahead of a summer of planned action for his Leadership PAC, MA4Dems PAC.
The candidates will receive a commitment of at least $5,000 to their campaigns through a combination of direct giving and donor outreach. In addition, field and digital resources will be offered to the candidates by Auchincloss for Congress staff and volunteers.
Candidates receiving Auchincloss endorsements were: Rep. Joe Courtney in Connecticut, Rep. Jared Golden in Maine, and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire.
State Rep. Steven Howitt, R-Seekonk, along with fellow GOP House members recently voted to sustain Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a Massachusetts driver’s license.
Howitt cited concerns about the fairness of the bill and questioned whether sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent individuals who cannot provide proof of lawful residence from using a driver’s license to register to vote.
The House voted 119-36, on a mostly party-line vote, to override Baker’s veto Thursday. All of the area’s Democratic reps voted with the majority.
The state Senate followed suit with an override the next day; the vote was 32-8. Massachusetts is now the 17th state to enact such a law; it will go into effect next July.
Howitt said he had previously supported an alternative proposal, filed by Rep. Shawn Dooley, R-Norfolk, that would have allowed undocumented residents to apply for a state-issued “driver privilege card” to legally operate a motor vehicle in Massachusetts. But the proposal was defeated.
Source:
Tom Reilly