October 24, 2023
Statement of Jeremy Burton, CEO, JCRC of Greater Boston
We today accepted the resignation by the Boston Worker’s Circle of its membership in the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC), with immediate effect.
We are aware of BWC’s co-sponsorship and participation, along with Jewish Voice for Peace, of a rally in Boston on October 18. This event – in its tone, tenor, language and other co-sponsors – is clearly not aligned with the policies and resolutions of the JCRC including our 2019 resolution saying that “no member organization of JCRC, through its programs, activities and practices, shall partner with – in particular by co-sponsoring events primarily led or co-led by or by signing on to statements primarily organized or co-organized by – a self-identified Jewish organization that declares itself to be anti-Zionist.”
It is unfortunate that at a time when we are experiencing and expressing a profound level of Jewish unity across the world, a small minority is seeking to exacerbate fractures and divisions within our people.
We appreciate the passion by which BWC expresses its concern for Palestinian safety. We share this concern for innocent Palestinian civilians who are today in harm’s way in Gaza because of the actions of Hamas. We support those members of our community who express their concern for Palestinian civilian safety, while simultaneously standing in support of the safety of Israelis, including the call for the return of some 200 hostages taken on October 7. However, we cannot support those organizations that demonize Israel, hold Israel to a double standard, and ignore the safety and security of Israel and our community as a whole.
We note that The Workers’ Circle has recently elected to withdraw from other Jewish communal organizations including, in August, resigning from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Since JCRC’s founding, we have embraced a “big tent” approach to our network – which is comprised of 40 organizations – striving to welcome all voices advancing the interests of the organized Jewish community and we have been committed to representing a diversity of viewpoints.
JCRC’s members are committed to coming together to understand the experiences of others and to hear their perspectives, even as they differ from our own. It is only by engaging in these often very difficult dialogues that we can continue our mission of civic engagement, building bridges, and initiating partnerships to strengthen the Jewish community for all of us.
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