By Stacey Dresner

After a passionate address by Sen. Eric P. Lesser late last month, the Massachusetts State Senate approved an additional $5 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

Lesser spoke out against the antisemitic “mapping project” and the rise of white supremacist activity in Massachusetts in support of his amendment that would add the additional $5 million to the grant program, which provides security enhancements at houses of worship, community centers, and other institutions at heightened risk of hate crimes, terrorism, and other violence.

Since 2017, Lesser has worked alongside Senate President Emerita Chandler and Senate Majority Leader Creem to establish the Nonprofit Security Grant program. In its first year, the grant program was allocated $75,000. With the increase of antisemitic acts and hate crimes in the state, that increased to $1.5 million in the fiscal year of 2021.

A staunch supporter of the Western Massachusetts Jewish community, last year Lesser presented JGS Lifecare in Longmeadow with $27,280 in nonprofit security grant funding after an attempted arson at Ruth’s House, JGS’s assisted living community. The funds were used to purchase additional professional grade cameras, video equipment and intercom sets to improve the JGS campus’s surveillance system.

This past May, during the Senate’s annual budget debate, he secured $3 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Program, doubling the funding. This new $5 million reserve, secured with support from Senate colleagues, Senate President Karen Spilka, and Senate Ways & Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, will further meet the demand of the program.

Lesser emphasized that growing demand for increased security funding in this address to the president of the Senate.

“In May, I stood before this chamber to speak out against the heinous rise in violence and bigotry against minority groups across our Commonwealth targeted for who they love, the way they dress, the faith they practice, the color of their skin,” said Lesser. “I am sad to say that in just two short months, things have gotten much worse in Massachusetts and across the country.”

Lesser spoke about the “Mapping Project” which identifies online the location of nearly 500 community organizations in Massachusetts, and which has in turn been promoted by the BDS movement on their website.

“When you look at the list of organizations…you will notice that many are religious and cultural organizations serving the Jewish community,” he said. “The map’s creators, who are shielded by anonymity in the online world, characterize themselves as a ‘multi-generational collective of activists and organizers.’ These so-called activists and organizers created this map to identify organizations that they claimed were complicit in the ‘colonization of Palestine.’ According to their definition, this would include organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Arts Collaborative and the Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston. They don’t sound like colonizers to me.”

“The existence of a public and user-friendly map that targets houses of worship, schools, and community centers is downright vicious, antisemitic, and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” he added.

Lesser also denounced the spike in documented acts of white supremacist activity across Massachusetts. Already this year, according to the ADL, more than 600 acts of hate have been reported. That is an increase from the total of 403 acts of hate in the entire year of 2021.

Lesser pointed at the early July march of 100 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front through downtown Boston. These white supremacists marched with their faces hidden by sunglasses, baseball hats, and white neck gaiters.

“We’re at a frightening place in our Commonwealth,” Lesser stated. “If anyone thinks that their doorstep, downtown, neighborhood, or community is safe from threats of violence, the unfortunate reality is that none of this is just anecdote.

“Today, when acts of hate and violence have become so shockingly commonplace, when organizations are pleading for our help, we must marshal every resource at our disposal to make sure that the people who feel vulnerable are getting the support that they need to feel safe in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

MAIN PHOTO: SEN. ERIC P. LESSER