Ameinu is deeply dismayed by the “Mapping Project,” an attempt by an anonymous Boston-area organization to create a map of “local institutional support for the colonization of Palestine.” The interactive map provides names and addresses of Jewish organizations that the Project’s creators link to “harms such as policing, US imperialism, and displacement/ethnic cleansing.” This crosses a line from anti-Zionism to antisemitism and must be condemned as such.
Ameinu, as a progressive Zionist organization, completely rejects the Mapping Project’s definition of Zionism as a form of white supremacy. By categorizing Zionism in any form as a “harm,” and by calling out organizations that support the State of Israel, the Mapping Project is a clear danger to Jews, Jewish communal institutions and other organizations.
Commentator Phllip Weiss, a long time critic of all things Israel on the anti-Zionist website Mondoweiss, claims the American Jewish community has completely overreacted to the Mapping Project. Weiss writes that, “Of the project’s 483 entries, 162 deal with Zionism, and less than 45 of those deal with what can be broadly classified as ‘Jewish’ institutions.” Weiss, however, conveniently ignores the antisemitic dog whistle on the Mapping Project’s own website, where it says that,”Boston’s Zionist leaders and powerhouse NGOs, which buy legitimacy and support from universities, use their influence to enable a range of oppressive agendas.” The age-old antisemitic charge of Jews pulling strings behind the scenes to control the world for evil purposes has had tragic consequences throughout Jewish history; at a time when real white supremacist violence is on the rise throughout the United States, Weiss’ dangerous defense of the Mapping Project’s antisemitism has crossed a line.
