CJFS Releases Shadow Report Detailing Special Commission's Missteps and Offering Guidance for Addressing Antisemitism

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November 20, 2025

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THE SPECIAL COMMISSION FAILED TO MEET THE MOMENT
 

Massachusetts’ Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism (the “Commission”) had a critical task: address antisemitism without enabling an authoritarian agenda that imperils us all. Our sustained observation and assessment of the Commission and its leadership leads to a clear conclusion: the Commission has done more to fuel rising authoritarianism and antisemitism than to create the conditions that promote Jewish safety. The Commission has smeared educators, discounted non-Zionist perspectives, and endorsed the same narratives and policies that the Trump administration wields to divide our communities, target our students, extort our institutions, vilify antiwar protesters, and undo hard-won progress toward this country’s highest democratic ideals. 

This backdrop informs our approach to this Shadow Report, which we hope serves as a resource to those in the Commonwealth and beyond. Over the remaining pages, this report: 

(I)    outlines practices to address antisemitism consistent with Massachusetts values; 
(II)   flags dubious assumptions that have shaped the Commission’s reckless approach; 
(III)  provides background information about the Commission’s questionable formation, composition and operation; and 
(IV)  offers additional resources for learning about antisemitism and related topics. 
 

Read the full Shadow Report.