Pro-Palestine website causes unrest for local Jewish communities

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A newly launched website called “The Mapping Project” is now leaving the Jewish community uneasy in Southern New England.

The website that launched last month lists about 500 Massachusetts institutions that they deem to have systematically supported the colonization of Palestine.

An interactive map on the website locates and lists the organizations to “dismantle” and disrupt them.

“These types of things, whether intentional or not, can lead to violence,” said Adam Greenman, president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. “This isn’t about political debate, this is about putting people’s lives at risk.”

“There are synagogues, there are universities on the list, police departments. There are individual donors to police departments and non-Jewish organizations that are on the list. I’ve gotten a lot of calls over the last week of folks who are worried,” he continued.

The Anti-Defamation League reported a 42% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in New England in 2021.

“It looks like a map targeting Jews,” said Rabbi Raphael Kanter of Tefarith Israel Congregation in New Bedford. “It’s not focused. It seems to be many, many Jewish institutions… it raises everybody’s anxiety levels.”

Kanter believes lumping hundreds of state-wide organizations with Jewish institutions only perpetuates hate.

“It’s trying to create connections that don’t exist, and that’s the classic anti-Semitic trope — that the Jews are behind the scenes affecting these organizations, the puppeteers behind the organizations. That’s the classic anti-Semitic trope,” he said.

As mass shootings continue to rise across the United States, Kanter fears the map could lead to acts of violence.

“It’s that anxiety always as I walk in the synagogue. ‘Could this be the day?’ So, this map targets us — and makes everyone feel more vulnerable,” he concluded.