When Dan Lieber learned of an anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) discussion being added to the agenda of an open town meeting in his hometown of Wakefield, he knew that complacency wasn’t an option.
The BDS movement promotes the use of economic pressure to influence Israel’s politics and practices, seeks to delegitimize Israel, and is widely recognized as closeted antisemitism. As of 2024, 38 states have passed bills and executive orders designed to discourage boycotts of Israel.
“I was shocked,” Lieber said. “These are my neighbors, and I felt like there was suddenly this hostility toward Jews.”
As if to further underscore the hostility of the BDS measure, the town meeting in which the efforts were to be discussed was scheduled for a Saturday morning, a time when many observant Jews are attending morning Shabbat services.
Lieber leapt into action, using an action plan that he hopes other advocates use to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism in their communities.
Step 1: Speak up — become an engaged community leader
“I’ve become aware of antisemitism repeatedly throughout my life,” Lieber says. “Taking action requires moral courage, which we each have, and understanding how to use resources to get help. We live in a community and our neighbors and organizations will help, provide guidance and support, and help us to not be alone.”
Step 2: Find allies — you are not alone
After Lieber read the details of the agenda item, he contacted the local rabbis in town to see if they were aware of the situation and could help support defeating any vote that might come up at the meeting. The next step was to contact the town administrator and town clerk to get a copy of the actual petitions with signatures, other Jewish neighbors, members of the local human rights commission, the town counsel, the town moderator who presides over the meeting, and others in the town.
Step 3: Remain focused — welcome alliances toward a common goal
Lieber then reached out to the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, and CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism, which helped him set up the proper channels and people to activate a town-wide coalition to oppose the BDS measure.
Step 4: Ask for help — use communities to find people and bring together a team
Organizational partners helped Lieber reach out to local contacts, as did others. The coalition of those who were upset that a discussion rooted in destruction of the Jewish state kept growing. When the town meeting was finally held, there were over a hundred people who were aware of the issue and waited 3.5 hours for the other items on the agenda to be discussed before defeating it.
Step 5: Have humility — ask questions, and don’t assume intentions
In Lieber’s inquiries into what happened, it became clear from conversations with residents that those who added their names to the petition may not have known exactly what they were signing. The petition was circulated at a church after services with pleas to sign made in person by a child.
Step 6: Don’t harm the harm-doer
At the town meeting, Lieber stood up to speak. He used techniques to avoid casting aspersions onto other individuals and keeping the topics focused on respect for individuals and the meeting as a governmental local legislative body.
“I opened with appreciation for the right of free speech and the right to petition our government so topics can be discussed,” Lieber remembers. “Then I explained this is not the right forum for international affairs and it was inappropriate to have that discussion at a local town meeting, where we discuss local issues such as whether to build schools and roads.”
Step 7: Share empathy — find the common humanity with others, even those whose views on a subject are based in a hatred they may not understand
Next, Lieber employed a method of bringing empathy to the table, expressing genuine disappointment for the victims of violence around the world, including Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and other locations including Ukraine, Darfur, and South Sudan. He noted that the discussion was happening on Shabbat and the local rabbis who have expertise on related matters could not be present due to their religious practice. He concluded by requesting the entire topic be “indefinitely postponed” or defeated by a majority vote.
A handful of other speakers were then given up to two minutes each per the rules to discuss the motion for indefinite postponement. Within 10 minutes, the vote on indefinite postponement was taken and it was overwhelmingly accepted. The main hate-driven request was defeated.
Step 8: Communicate clearly — engage those who may be part of a process to fight hate so the roles, rules, and limits of communication are known
As a result of Lieber’s efforts, there are now discussions happening on creating legal and appropriate procedures to defeat these types of issues before the substantive discussion can take place, depriving those who want to sow discord of the time before the captive audience who are there to do their civic duty.
Using resources and guidance from others who professionally focus on antisemitism in the media, along with personal determination, the building of community around an issue was done quickly, effectively, and with credit shared among many people
Dan Lieber is a member of CJP’s new CCA/JCRC cohort to train community activist leaders.
