By Vito LaMura
Our state representative, Ken Gordon, has gone to Israel with 12 of his colleagues, all expenses paid by a controversial lobbying group, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. This group disingenuously claims that they fund these “study tours” for civic leaders to help them learn about and support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Let’s think about this for a minute. Do our State House reps and senators even remotely have influence or power in this regard? Certainly not. Then why does this lobbying group spend so much money to influence our lawmakers?
The answer is that the JCRC of Greater Boston wants lawmakers to vote favorably on a proposed bill that would prohibit Massachusetts from adopting any sort of boycott, divestment, or sanctions policies to pressure the state of Israel to end its 50-year occupation and enter into a just peace that respects Palestinians’ rights.
In other words, they want a state law passed that will take away the rights of those seeking to use the same tactics that helped bring an end to South African apartheid. Accepting this trip makes it very difficult for a representative to remain impartial about this legislation.
Yes, the state Ethics Commission has ruled that these “junkets” are not a conflict of interest as long as the lawmakers file a disclosure agreement. That is laughable. It’s OK to accept an almost $6000 trip from a group that is squarely on the side of the official Israeli view as long as you fill out a form (and hope that no one calls attention to it)?!
Representative Gordon partially justifies his acceptance of this trip by highlighting his meetings with Israelis doing business in Massachusetts now or perhaps in the future. I don’t buy it. Governor Patrick represented Massachusetts in this regard many years ago when he traveled to Israel and other foreign ports of call to promote our state. At least he was the chief executive, not one of 200 local representatives. Will Representative Gordon be traveling expenses paid to other countries to promote Massachusetts as a place to do business? Highly doubtful.
Representative Gordon’s has posted many pictures of his trip. Perhaps he has them, but I do not see any from the occupied West Bank – no pictures of the 20-foot high separation wall that conveniently walls off Palestinians as Israeli settlements (over 400,000 Jewish settlers now in occupied Palestinian land) grow and strengthen Israeli apartheid.
Our state senator, Mike Barrett, is also on the list of legislators who have previously gone to Israel all expenses paid. What are these men thinking? How can they not see that accepting these trips is highly questionable ethically? The JCRC is trying to buy their votes. Stay tuned to see if/how they support/vote for the anti-BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) legislation.
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