PHOTO: A protester confronts two Newton teachers at a Newton Teachers Association rally in support of state representative candidate Bill Humphrey on Thursday, Aug. 29. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
The Newton Teachers Association hosted a rally in support of Bill Humphrey, the city councilor running in the Democratic primary for the open 12th Middlesex state representative seat, Thursday afternoon on the steps of City Hall.
There was live music. There were speeches. And there were protesters with signs, flags and megaphones shouting things about nazis and Hamas.
Some background
Two years ago, a group of activists created an interactive website—the Mapping Project—that the creators claimed showed organizations that supported abuses against Palestinians. The website, however, mapped out Jewish places of worship, Jewish schools and other Jewish communal spaces across the commonwealth and was derided as antisemitic and dangerous.
The Newton City Council drafted a letter, initiated by City Councilor Rick Lipof (also currently running for the Middlesex 12th state representative) opposing the Mapping Project, but Humphrey did not sign it.
A couple of months ago, during a debate at the Newton Free Library, Greg Schwartz—former city councilor and Humphrey’s other current opponents for the state representative seat—asked Humphrey why he chose to not sign that letter and whether he would sign it today.
Humphrey replied that he would sign such a letter now, in light of the rise in antisemitism across the country and in light of the Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7, and he said that at the time, he thought the letter stoked fear and didn’t think it was “responsible for elected officials to shine a huge spotlight on every single fringe project that’s problematic on the internet.”
During a discussion about antisemitism at a recent candidates’ forum at Temple Emaniel, Humphrey said he’s spoken with Jewish community leaders and constituents about their safety concerns and wants to see the state play a more proactive role in combatting bigotry.
Last week, Schwartz’s campaign sent out a mailer (sent to the Newton Beacon by a resident) attacking Humphrey over the Mapping Project.
In March, the Massachusetts Teachers Association called for an end to Israel’s military operation in Gaza, referring to it a “genocidal war on the Palestinian people.”
Newton Teachers Assocation President Michael Zilles then released a statement on behalf of himself and the NTA denouncing the motion and calling for the MTA to retract it immediately.
By then, the motion and public reaction to it had erupted in outcry at a time when antisemitic hate crime reports were on the rise.
‘We have company’
On Thursday, as Newton Teachers Association members and leadership stood outside City Hall preparing for their rally with some music performed by Newton music teachers, they were met with uninvited guests.
About a dozen protesters arrived, carrying the flags of Israel and pre-Revolution Iran as well as photos of Israeli hostages and a young woman killed by the Iranian government.
“We have company,” Humphrey said calmly to his campaign volunteers as he prepared for his rally speech.
None of the protesters would give their names to the Newtron Beacon, and it’s unclear how many of them are from Newton. One woman said she was from Framingham.
They weren’t shy in any other fashion, though.
They accused the Newton Teachers Association of being antisemitic due to the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s stance on the Israeli conflict and proposed curriculum related to the conflict.
One man held a sign that read, “Humphrey hates Jews.” When asked why he believes that, he said it was because Humphrey didn’t sign the 2022 Mapping Project letter.
Another man with a megaphone shouted at the teachers on the steps, calling them antisemites and accusing them of aligning themselves with nazis, terrorists and Hamas.
Many teachers in the crowd are Jewish. One of the teachers on stage singing had a hat shaped like a menorah, and one of the protesters asked, with his megaphone, if “the terrorists told her to wear that.”
The Framingham woman, holding a pre-Revolution Iranian flag, said that the flag represented the Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, before the Iranian Revolution that transformed Iran into an oppressive theocratic autocracy under the Ayatollah.
She said she’s an Iranian activist and brought the flag in support of her Jewish friends who were there protesting (Since the Revolution, Iran has waged proxy wars against Israel via Hamas and Hezbollah). But she didn’t say how pre-Revolution Iran or the Shah relate to the Newton Teachers Association or Humphrey, who was born more than a decade after the Iranian revolution.
The NTA members eventually moved in closer to the stage and cheered loud enough to drown out much of the noise, and after several speeches from educators and Humphrey, the music started back up.
“Today’s effort to interrupt a rally of local educators supporting my candidacy failed,” Humphrey said after the rally. “My priorities and views have not changed. My commitment to fight antisemitism and enhance religious tolerance is rock solid. My dedication to the goal of making the commonwealth a better place to live for all its residents remains unshakable, and today’s speaking program focused on issues like childcare, healthcare, housing, and the environment.”
