Judy Somberg
The Massachusetts Commission on Combating Antisemitism issued its final report on December 1, 2025. The report (no longer available on the legislature’s website) says that its guiding principle is to combat antisemitism and hate “the Massachusetts way”. Having tightly controlled the testimony in front of it, the Commission essentially heard a one-sided story of immense and growing antisemitism in Massachusetts. The “data” that they looked to — which documented the antisemitism — included many incidents of protests of Israeli actions. But having received many written comments that antisemitism cannot be viewed or addressed without looking at hate and discrimination against other peoples, and that protesting Israeli actions is legally protected and is not antisemitism, they came up with their wishy-washy language that they were combating antisemitism “the Massachusetts way”.
The report dances around formal adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, but then says it’s the best definition available and points to all those who have used it before. The highly discredited IHRA definition incorporates criticism of Israel as antisemitism. The report is clear that to speak out in support of the Palestinian people and their aspirations for liberation will likely be considered antisemitic.
The label “the Massachusetts way” was also seemingly adopted by the Commission to distinguish its recommendations from the demands of the Trump administration following its claims of antisemitism in higher education. Unfortunately, though, the Commission’s recommendations are not that dissimilar from those of the Trump administration. The report tries to distinguish them by repeatedly praising Harvard and other Massachusetts universities for their so-called efforts to combat antisemitism.
Shortly before the commission’s final report was issued Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff issued an excellent shadow report finding that “the Commission has done more to fuel rising authoritarianism and antisemitism than to create the conditions that promote Jewish safety.” They wrote, “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.” Their shadow report details this critique and describes practices to combat antisemitism that would in fact be consistent with Massachusetts values.
Nothing in the report was a surprise to members of Together for an Inclusive Massachusetts (TIM) who met early in 2026 to discuss and prioritize next steps. TIM will work to oppose harmful outcomes within each of the designated areas that the report addresses, K-12 educational policies, local and state law enforcement, workplace and healthcare, and the legislature. Additionally, TIM will work to strengthen relationships with its member organizations and allied organizations.
NLG members are organizing a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, who was tapped by Governor Healey to oversee the implementation of the report and is now called “the antisemitism czar”, to discuss our concerns about the report. Please contact Judy Somberg (Judy.somberg@gmail.com) or Cathy Reuben (creuben@hrwlawyers.com) if you would like to participate.
