Jewish Journal: Legislators vow to take ‘deep dive’ to fight antisemitism in Massachusetts
Jewish Journal: “Two state legislators from diverse backgrounds will co-chair the state’s newly created Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism.
State Sen. John Velis represents the Hampden-Hampshire County district. State Rep. Simon Cataldo, of Concord, is situated in Eastern Massachusetts. Together, the two Democrats vow to work comprehensively in mitigating what they say is rising antisemitism in the Commonwealth.
“We have our North Star, or guiding principles,” Velis said of the six charges for the commission. However, “it also leaves a lot of room to be broad.” He added that he and Cataldo “share the kind of desire to go big here – a deep dive.”
How deep will the commission dive into the issue of antisemitism within Massachusetts? The co-chairs, in separate interviews, described their task as significant, with multiple ways to address it.
Velis mentioned a stunning number of constituents reaching out about loved ones in college who feared disclosing their Jewish identity on campuses with anti-Israel activity. Cataldo recalled Jewish students wishing to transfer due to such an environment – and added that the K-12 sphere faces challenges of its own.
“We’re [outpacing] other states in antisemitic incidents,” Cataldo said. “Although there’s a long way to go, there’s a lot of opportunity for improvement. This commission is going to find a lot of willing partners across the state.”
Cataldo is Jewish, having been bar mitzvahed at Kerem Shalom in Concord, where his sisters were bat mitzvahed. Velis comes from a diverse Christian background – Greek on his father’s side, Irish Catholic on his mother’s.
Cataldo praised having one Jewish and one non-Jewish chair on the commission, “because antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem, especially the way antisemitism is manifesting itself now.”
The road to the commission was paved this spring, months after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks on Israel. The attacks, and the subsequent ongoing Israeli war against Hamas, have sparked anti-Israel protests around the commonwealth, nation and world. Some of the protests have been described as antisemitic by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League.
In Massachusetts, the level of anti-Israel activity concerned Velis, who cited a statistic from the ADL: Almost 50 percent of all antisemitic incidents across the U.S. in 2023 occurred in five states – including supposedly progressive Massachusetts.
Cataldo recounted experiencing this juxtaposition firsthand – early in his run for the State House in a district he describes as progressive.
“I was told by progressive advocates that a Jewish person could not win in my district,” he said. “I was so surprised to hear that, because my policy positions were liberal positions. I never thought that being a religious minority would hurt me in a Democratic primary. Some folks were convinced it would. I can’t say whether they were right.” However, he added, “it encouraged me, rather than run away from my Jewish identity, to publicly lean into it.”
“This was two years before Oct. 7,” Cataldo said. “I think you can draw a straight line between the warnings I heard and what we’ve seen be revealed about politics in our country and the posture of significant segments of political society in America toward the Jewish people.”
The co-chairs acknowledged that there had been advocacy against the creation of a state commission on antisemitism, and invited opponents to reconsider their stance if possible.
“Let’s continue the dialogue,” Velis said. However, he added, “one of the things I’m going to insist upon is, if we’re going to have dialogue, we’ve got to have clarity, substantiated with evidence. … There’s so many conspiracy theories and things out there that attempt to distort the debate.”
“To the vast majority of people who objected to the creation of this commission, I would say we still want to hear from you,” Cataldo said. “Like any commission, this one is going to make a firm effort to hear from the members of the public and incorporate, to the extent possible, the public’s input into our deliberative process.
“I want to be very clear, at the same time, that antisemitism is a problem in Massachusetts and it needs to be addressed as such.”
