MTA Rank and File for Palestine defend disastrous hearing before MA Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism and share post about liberating Palestine "by any means necessary"

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page seems to have a problem on his hands. His former boss Merrie Najimy and her MTA Rank and File for Palestine group are doubling down on their disastrous performance in front of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism and sharing posts from extremist organizations advocating for “liberation” by “any means necessary.”

The MTA had many low moments during the hearing - for example, Page being unable to characterize clearly antisemitic imagery as being so, defending the extreme material provided to educators throughout Massachusetts, Najimy accusing the Commission of “anti-Palestinian racism” because her heart-rate increased when the “resources” provided to MTA members was questioned by the Commission, and finally, Najimy claiming that a Jewish child would be welcomed with open arms in Gaza (for a full run-down, see our previous Substack post which includes a link to the hearing).

So bad was Page’s testimony, so outlandish Najimy’s outbursts, and so egregious the materials, that the story was picked up by media including the Free Press and CBS.

The MTA has responded to the backlash by promising to remove the resources from its website. However, Page has doubled-down on defending his performance at the Commission and the MTA generally. He called the resources brought up by the commission “cherry-picked.” Page wrote to MA lawmakers:

"I remain deeply disappointed that in my conversations with the House co-chair prior to the February 10 hearing, I had been led to believe that the commission hearing would provide the opportunity for a thoughtful discussion about how to teach this very difficult conflict with our students. Instead, the co-chair used this hearing as an opportunity to engage in political grandstanding that was disturbing to many, including other legislators"

Najimy’s MTA Rank and File for Palestine group, meanwhile, shared Jewish Voice for Peace’s instagram post in which they again defended the resources provided by the MTA - teaching “Palestine”, they claim, is not “antisemitic.” For reference, here is another resource the MTA shared with educators to “teach Palestine.” Nothing antisemitic there, apparently…

True to form, JVP grotesquely invokes the Holocaust to provide cover for its support of rank antisemitism in the guise of simply “anti-Zionism.”

Najimy’s MTA Rank and File for Palestine once more claims that the attempts to “silence” educators from sharing or using these resources in the classroom is “anti-Palestinian racism.” Any attempt to discuss or even acknowledge antisemitism which doesn’t generate from white supremacist or far-right sources is ignored, minimized or, worse, claimed to be “weaponized” or itself “racist.”

For an organization under the microscope for supporting extremism, it perhaps wasn’t the best choice for MTA Rank and File for Palestine to share WithinOurLifetime’s post for Malcolm X :

“All Palestinians admire him…as Palestinians, we can use different means and methods to liberate ourselves…’by any means necessary’, like he said”

WithinOurLifetime outwardly expressed support for Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7th, has organized rallies and protests in support of Hamas’ “flood”, and is affiliated with Samidoun, a designated terror entity in the United States.

It is troubling that Najimy’s group seems to share WOL’s sentiments and would publicize such a statement. It is a sign perhaps of Najimy’s close ties to Page (Page was VP when Najimy was president of the MTA, and they rose through the ranks together in the MTA’s progressive caucus) that her group can express such views, affiliate with extreme organizations and even advertise fundraisers for groups which have ties to terrorist organizations (see our previous post), with little repercussion.

The MTA might hope that simply removing controversial resources from its website might solve its problems - but the ideological rot is much deeper.