At a time when our community should be attuned to the risks and challenges of antisemitism in all its forms, we and our member organizations, representing a multiplicity of Jewish perspectives, found Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s recent comments troubling.

In civic debate there should be no place for perpetuating long-persistent antisemitic tropes, such as Jewish individuals as wealthy and powerful, ignoring the historical underpinnings of antisemitism as a term literally created to frame hatred of the Jewish community in a precise way, and obfuscating the historic origins of the Jewish people in the region that is now called Israel.

Our preference is dialogue, as evidenced by the fact that we reached out to Councilor Fernandes Anderson before her remarks at Wednesday’s hearing to offer and welcome a constructive one-on-one conversation with our elected leaders. But at a time when the emotional and physical safety of the Jewish community in the US and beyond is at risk, we could not leave such public comments unaddressed.

We will continue to make efforts to meet with members of the Council to share our perspective and understanding of these ideas that are both divisive and inaccurate.