Take Action

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

Tell Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll that you do not support the use of Jewish identity to justify repressive policies in Massachusetts. Share your perspective through this official contact form. Here is a sample subject line, letter, and sources to copy and paste:

Subject: Jewish resident against repressive policies

Dear Governor Healey and Lt. Governor Driscoll,

I am writing to you today as a Jewish resident who is deeply concerned about the use of Jewish identity to legitimize persecution and violence against immigrants and Muslim people. I believe that all people should be able to live freely and flourish in our Commonwealth. I am grateful for your commitment to fighting antisemitism; I affirm that Massachusetts can combat antisemitism while we also:

• Protect First Amendment rights, including the right to have contentious political debate; and

• Champion initiatives in our schools that address prejudice through an anti-racist framework that safeguards all communities.

With these values in mind, I ask that you oppose any definition of antisemitism that endangers First Amendment rights. Experts including the ACLU and Human Rights Watch have found that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism chills free speech by making people afraid that they will be accused of antisemitism if they criticize Israel (See sources below). This is not a trivial issue. Muslim students have been abducted by ICE in Massachusetts on the basis of policies that utilized a definition of antisemitism that encompassed free speech, according to Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts.

Please support policies that safeguard the rights of all people. Please reject policies that use Jewish identity to limit the rights of some.

Thank you,

YOUR NAME

YOUR TOWN

Sources:

ACLU rejects IHRA definition: https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Reject-Definitions-of-Anti-Semitism-that-Encompass-Protected-Speech.pdf

Federal judge rules that Trump deportation policies and ICE's abduction of Rümeysa Öztürk in Somerville, MA, relied on a definition of antisemitism that encompasses First Amendment-protected speech (the IHRA definition): https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282460/gov.uscourts.mad.282460.261.0_1.pdf

Author of IHRA definition rejects it, saying it is being used as a political weapon: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/antisemitism-executive-order-trump-chilling-effect

Human Rights Watch on the IHRA: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human

Scholars of Holocaust and genocide studies reject IHRA definition: https://www.ghscn.org/letters-and-statements/uni-admin-refuse-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism

Letter from ACLU of Massachusetts to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on the IHRA definition: https://www.aclum.org/app/uploads/drupal/sites/default/files/aclum_letter_to_bese.pdf