A website that initially seemed harmless went online three weeks ago. It shows a map of the US state of Massachusetts – crossed by lines of different colors that connect a number of points on the map. The play of colors, which looks like a statistical survey, was put online by the equally harmless-sounding »Mapping Project«, a mapping initiative.
The content, however, is far from harmless, but shocking – or as the liberal daily Boston Globe wrote: “A guide for anti-Semites”. For each dot on the densely interwoven map represents an institution—a school, a corporation, a police station, a volunteer organization—and their “connections” to each other and to Jewish organizations or philanthropists. The institutions and their alleged connections are marked “so that we can tear them down,” as the anonymous creators of the “Mapping Project” unequivocally put it.
THREAT In the Jewish communities in Boston and the surrounding area, where there have recently been fatal synagogue fire attacks and a stabbing attack on a rabbi, there is a red alert after the publication of the “Mapping Project”. “This map is a Jewish death list,” said Robert Trestan, regional head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Boston Globe.
In his view, the threat emanating from the site is “extremely high” compared to other threats one has been exposed to in the past. Trestan, like dozens of other Jewish leaders, philanthropists, and rabbis, was named—along with his official address.
But who is behind the anti-Semitic map project? Those responsible for the hate platform remain in the dark and have veiled their identities. When acquiring the Internet address, the names of the buyers were not recorded publicly.
BDS-Middle However, the self-description of the authors allows conclusions to be drawn about their political positioning. The “cross-generational collective of activists and organizers” seems to be located in the pro-Palestinian, so-called post-colonial BDS milieu. This can be seen, for example, in the context in which organizations on the map are publicly denounced that have proven to be »accomplices in colonization«.
It is well known that the BDS movement reaches to the fringes of Islamist terrorist organizations. The unifying quality of the direct threat is that the protagonists openly blame Jews and their supposed helpers in the fight against the alleged oppression of what the authors believe to be Palestine.
So it’s no wonder that the American federal police, the FBI, have adopted the BDS card. In an ADL Internet briefing, Boston’s FBI chief Joseph Bonavolonta said the FBI is closely monitoring the matter and is continuing to investigate who is behind the Mapping Project, although there have been no direct threats since the site’s publication .
rush Shortly after the site went live, it was promoted by the anti-Israel group on social media. Other so-called left-wing groups, such as the “Massachusetts Peace Action,” also joined Boston BDS and spread hate speech on their channels.
However, unlike its denunciation of Jews, Boston BDS is far less permissive in its use of its own data. Its members prefer anonymity and do not publish any information about themselves online. Boston BDS denies direct authorship of the “Mapping Project” on its social channels. However, this does not stop the organized opponents of Israel from further promoting the site. Incidentally, the »Boston Globe« is also listed on the map. Apparently, a basic positive attitude towards Israel and Jews is enough to get on the list.
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