As the Zionists once again murder young and old, civilians and resistance fighters in Gaza, a new initiative in Boston Massachusetts, North America, has done its bit to broaden the front against Zionist aggression. Last week, it tweeted that “these murders will be normalized by Boston area NGOs. Zionist brutality is sustained by the material & ideological support it receives from here where we are.” This is correct. It is not enough to condemn the events in occupied Palestine; the Zionists are able to do what they do only because of the support they get from outside the settler colonial entity. If we want to do more than condemn the murders, we need to start to actually make the Zionists pay for their crimes. Part of the struggle lies in identifying and holding to account the Zionist groups and activities that deflect attention, normalize brutality, and materially support the ongoing attacks and ethnic cleansing.

What is the Mapping Project?

The Mapping project is a collective project of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions – or BDS - group in Boston which aims to map the intersection of the Zionist movement and elements of US imperial power and action.

They say their goal in producing ‘collective mapping’ is to reveal ‘local entities and networks that enact devastation, so we can dismantle them.' Every entity, they state, has an address, every network can be disrupted.

Unsurprisingly, the project was immediately threatened by Zionist groups being denounced by the Anti-Defamation League (or ADL), which quite rightly features in the maps for its role in radicalizing US police departments with Islamophobic Zionist counter-terror tactics.  

The ADL has also operated since before the creation of the Israeli entity to target Arab Americans and accuse them of anti-Semitism. As the Mapping Project correctly states, the ADL has worked hand in glove with the FBI ever since, and it currently operates as a lobby group pursuing manufactured anti-Semitism claims, as well as fulfilling its function as a spy agency on behalf of Mossad.

Zionists condemn alleged anti-Semitism

The Mapping Project was also denounced by the Jerusalem Post. Failing to see the irony, the Post cited Zionist groups criticizing the project, including the Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Haiat who said "Israel strongly condemns BDS Boston’s publication of a map of local Jews and blaming them for anything and everything wrong in Greater Boston."  "This publication reveals the true, ugly face of BDS Boston," he said, “which is nothing but a conspiratorial antisemitic organization. We call on all decent people to come out against this publication, and to condemn the organization and those behind this racist campaign." 

StandWithUs, a Zionist regime asset, claimed that the project is “mapping out and targeting synagogues, Jewish schools, and other Jewish institutions” and “slanderously claiming these organizations are actively participating in the 'colonization of Palestine'." But colonization is exactly what they are supporting.

Betrayal by elements of the BDS movement

Shockingly, however, the BDS movement said it “did not endorse” the project.

Some of the defenders of the project have been notably defensive in response.

One defense widely used is that the project does not single out ‘Jewish’ institutions because less than 30 of the relevant institutions can be considered ‘Jewish’. However, the key point to be clear about here is that these are not groups that relate only to the Jewish faith or the Jewish community as a whole, rather everyone that is mentioned is directly involved in pro-"Israel" advocacy. They should all, therefore, be described more accurately as Zionist, not ‘Jewish’ groups. 

The mapping project stands accused - including by supposed allies of targeting ‘Jewish’ groups – even of potentially endangering teenagers.

Valid charges or squalid Zionist propaganda?

But are any of these charges valid, or do they simply provide a clarifying moment revealing weak, confused allies who objectively side with the forces of Zionist oppression?

Let’s look at the worst of the allegations.

Zionist groups like the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), which is formally affiliated with the Zionist movement have typically lied about the project.

UJS President Joel Rosen tweeted that the projects' targets included ‘an organization for Jews with disabilities, the Harvard Centre for Jewish Studies, the Jewish Arts Collaborative and the Jewish Teen Foundation’.  

Similar criticisms were made by supposed allies of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions on Zionism. Ariel Gold wrote that the project:

literally targets Jewish teen and youth organizations… We should all fear a massacre of Jewish youth as a result.

A massacre of Jewish youth? For mentioning that a group with the word ‘Jewish’ in its title defends the crimes of Zionism? The self-centered conceit and absurdity are extraordinary.

Zionist groups camouflaged as “Jewish”

But, what is the link between these groups and Zionism?

Well, the Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston is a Zionist group, run as a project of the Hebrew College, which specifically states it is ‘rooted’ in the Zionist movement. It is financially supported by Zionist foundations and runs propaganda sessions to radicalize young people to support the racist ideology of Zionism as in this event in May 2021. 

Or, take the Jewish Arts Collaborative, which promotes the Zionist entity and whitewashes the realities of the subjugation of the Palestinians. In addition to Zionist funders, it is directly funded by the "Israel" Consulate to pretend that Hummus and Falafel are ‘Israeli’ cuisine.

What about the Harvard Center for Jewish Studies? Not only does it attempt to provide scientific legitimacy to the mythological underpinnings of Zionism, but it also has ties to Israeli universities complicit with the occupation.

It also maintains connections to the Zionist student group Hillel which has come under increasingly tight control by the Zionist movement in recent years – and with the extremist sect Chabad, known to be strongly involved in most of the so-called ‘price tag’ revenge attacks against Palestinians  - according to "Israel’s" own domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet. One of the proselytizing movements’ rabbis was recently kicked out of Russia for extremism. Prominent supporters of the sect in Ukraine, such as the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, are well known for both corruption and directly funding the Azov Battalion and other Nazi militias in 2014.

The fact is that lists, diagrams, and briefing on the many ways in which Zionist groups ally with imperial powers and subvert anti-racism are essential. It is perfectly legitimate to target ‘Jewish’ groups that support Zionist crimes, just as it is to target Christian groups that do the same. The Mapping Project, to its credit, is already doing that. 

The best response to this from BDS Boston should be to intensify the targeting of Zionist and pro-"Israel" groups so they can be more effectively seen and held accountable. The project should be rolled out in all 50 US states, as well as internationally. In the end, of course, like all other racist groups, each one will have to be dismantled as part of the process of liberating Palestine.

Overall, the Mapping Project is performing an extremely useful service in making visible the hidden connections of groups in the US with the crimes of the occupation regime. The sooner it is rolled out all over the world, the sooner will it be able to contribute significantly to the liberation of Palestine and the sooner we will be able to dismantle all Zionist organizations. Every. Single. One.