“Shame on Velis” campaign highlights senator’s role in controversial commission

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This past summer, signs sprang up on lawns across Easthampton, emblazoned with the slogans “THIS JEW SAYS: SHAME ON VELIS” and “VELIS: STOP PUSHING TRUMP’S AGENDA.” Their target? John Velis, state senator for Hampden and Hampshire counties and co-chair of the Massachusetts Special Commission On Combating Antisemitism, whose recommendations, critics say, will curtail free speech and academic freedom in classrooms across the state. 

The campaigners place attention on Velis due to geography — he’s a Westfield native and his district includes Easthampton — but also because of his high level position in the commission and his apparent support of Israel, given three trips he has taken there over the last several years. Campaigners hope that residents in Easthampton, and across the state, will contact the senator and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to express concern about the recommendations and hopefully prevent them becoming state law. 

The commission’s recommendations, made last November, are controversial in large part due to the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which has been widely criticized for its use in stifling criticism of Israel and free speech more generally. Critics say if the commission’s recommendations are widely adopted, it could have a chilling effect on free speech, academic freedom, and students’ and educators’ abilities to discuss critical perspectives of Israel in classrooms across the state, from kindergarten through university. “If the recommendations became legislation, we could have a tip line to the police, where teachers could tell on each other,” said Deborah Yaffe, one of the organizers of the “Shame on Velis” campaign. “People could be arrested. They could lose their jobs.” 

Velis’ trips to Israel have been a particular concern for organizers. Before he was appointed commission co-chair, Velis, who is not Jewish, had visited Israel in 2016 and 2023 on trips sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the American Israel Education Foundation, which is affiliated with the right-wing pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Velis again visited Israel in January 2025, after his appointment to the commission and during Israel’s genocide in Gaza, on a trip funded by the Israeli government. Critics assert that these trips undermine Velis’ neutrality on the commission. He countered, “Of course Israel is a place you’d want to go if you’re looking into antisemitism.” 

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The Special Commission On Combating Antisemitism was formed by the Massachusetts state legislature in July 2024 in response to the Biden administration’s 2023 adoption of a National Strategy to Counter Antisemtism and to an Anti-Defamation League audit indicating significant increases in antisemitic incidents in New England, though critics have raised questions raised about the validity of its data, given the audit’s widespread inclusion of pro-Palestinian speech and advocacy under the category of antisemitism. The commission was tasked with soliciting testimony about antisemitism in the Commonwealth and how to counter it, in order to make recommendations on how to combat antisemitism in primary, secondary, and higher education. The commission is the first of its kind in the U.S., though it does follow legislation passed in California that regulates teaching about Israel and Palestine in schools. 

Before the legislation creating the commission was even finalized, some spectators recognized the potential for a skewed outcome. In a press release at the time, Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Massachusetts, wrote that the organization “strongly supports measures to address all forms of religious bias. Yet no other religious identity is protected under these proposals.”

“Hate crimes and discrimination against Muslims have surged dramatically in the Commonwealth, especially after the onset of the war on Gaza. There is no place for Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian sentiment, or antisemitism in our Commonwealth,” the statement continued.

And indeed, the commission adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism even though critics — and even the definition’s author — say it can encourage conflation of pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist speech with antisemitism. The report’s authors emphasize that “IHRA — like all definitions — should not be employed to limit First Amendment rights or in a manner that denies due process,” recommending that DESE provide schools with guidance about First Amendment law and teacher training resources that encourage “intellectually diverse” classrooms. 

But the commission also claims that, particularly in school contexts, “there are well-established limits to the First Amendment,” noting that some pro-Palestinian slogans, such as such as “Globalize the Intifada,” are “relevant in a conversation about antisemitism.” Though the commission doesn’t explicitly recommend banning such phrases, the mention of the popular pro-Palestinian slogan alongside “limits to the First Amendment” — with the IHRA definition looming in the background — worries critics, who say a suggested conflation could silence pro-Palestinian speech more broadly. 

Among the more controversial recommendations at the K-12 level are that DESE should work with public schools to label antisemitism a unique bias category with its own identification and reporting mechanisms, and develop mechanisms for reporting “problematic curriculum” used in class, although the report does not give details as to what might be considered “problematic.” 

At the higher education level, the report suggests that colleges consult with campus Hillel organizations — Jewish student groups known for their pro-Israel stances — as well as faculty, staff and local groups, “to identify specific safety concerns” for Jewish students, “including threats of antisemitic harassment, violence, and vandalism/destruction.” The report also recommends colleges adopt rules governing protests, including “clear instruction on content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions on speech and expression,” and “refrain from participating in discriminatory academic boycotts that target individuals or institutions based on race, religion, national origin, or ancestry,” which critics say appears to be a reference to “academic boycotts” of Israeli institutions, which some colleges and universities have adopted. 

Critics are especially concerned that the report suggests its recommendations become law if schools’ implementation is insufficient, pointing to the California legislation, which has resulted in several lawsuits against teachers and school districts by pro-Israel groups. 

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Yaffe, the “Shame on Velis” organizer, worries the commission’s report is “taking away free speech, academic freedom, looking at dismantling unions, discrediting unions, like the MTA [Massachusetts Teachers Association].” 

Campaign organizers point to a commission hearing with MTA president Max Page. Then, Velis and his co-chair Representative Simon Cataldo questioned Page about a webpage that had been created by MTA members, sharing resources about the genocide in Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more generally. Velis and Cataldo asserted that much of its contents were antisemitic, with Velis contending their use amounted to “education malpractice,” at certain points going through specific images and asking Page — who is Jewish — if he considered them antisemitic, too. “If I had no interest in this region of the world and just read the 89-plus documents… I would finish that, and I would say, ‘wow, those Jewish people are tough,’” Velis told Page. ​​“I’m seeing nothing that presents the Jewish perspective, or the Israeli perspective.” 

The incident became a rallying call for those opposed to the commission, including the “Shame on Velis” campaign. In response to the confrontation, Page released a statement critiquing the commission’s approach to antisemitism as “somehow ‘more important’ than other hatreds.” Northampton High School history teacher and MTA rank and file member Ian Petty told The Shoestring, “it seems clear to me that the aim of the commission and the people who support it is to curb free speech on Palestine in schools.”

Yaffe and others were also “alarmed about the lack of public comment periods that were available” on the commission’s final report, noting that there had been only two in a year and that much of the testimony, data, and recommendations critical of the IHRA definition had seemingly been dismissed. Campaign member Shelly Greenstein says she made attempts to share concerns directly with Velis a year and half ago, by speaking with one of his staffers. “It was pretty obvious that they were not open to hearing all points of view,” Yaffe said, noting she never heard anything further from his office. “This commission is representing all of Massachusetts’ interests, and I don’t feel like [Velis] did an adequate job. He certainly wasn’t representing the people that I know, and diverse Jewish opinion.”

Another campaign organizer and Westfield State University history professor Mara Dodge says she submitted testimony to the commission critiquing the IHRA definition, in which she mentioned her Jewish heritage and relatives who died in the Holocaust. Dodge shared with The Shoestring the email she received in response from commission member Representative Steven Howitt. “It appears that anyone with Jewish heritage, no matter how many generations ago, confess to having a relative and or family who perished in or escaped the holocaust,” Howitt wrote. “Fortunately for you, your ancestors came to America where Jews are free to practice their religious freedom.” He added, “Jews/Hebrews were in Judea and Samaria long before any ‘Palestinians.’ I do believe you have been reading the wrong ‘history’ books.” 

“How someone so ignorant of basic history, incapable of rational discourse on the topic, and with such intense anti-Palestinian bias could be selected to serve on this commission reveals volumes about the commission’s true character,” Dodge told The Shoestring. “[This] is about weaponizing antisemitism and criminalizing legitimate criticism of Israel.” Dodge did not respond to the email and did not hear from Howitt or anyone else on the commission again. 

Asked for comment on his email, Howitt said, “[It’s] not about doubt, but many people try to qualify their comments by invoking ancestry.” 

Due to Velis’ deployment to the southern border as a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, he couldn’t be reached for comment, though his office did provide a statement reiterating that he “is proud of the significant support that the Commission and final report has received from leaders across the political spectrum[.]” Cataldo could not be reached for comment. 

Despite the concerns about the commission’s impact on free speech, Petty, the history teacher, feels confident that the union, as well as the Northampton school district, will continue to value “teacher autonomy” regardless of the final outcome of the report. 

Nancy Stenberg, a public school librarian in Springfield and member of “MTA Rank and File for Palestine,” expressed similar confidence in the MTA and her district. “I can read picture books about Palestine,” she said, adding that during Muslim American Heritage Month, in January, she celebrated with a “big display in my library.”  

Max Page, whose confrontation with Velis and Cataldo helped to spark the “Shame on Velis” campaign, told The Shoestring, “Attempting to silence those you disagree with will undermine the goal of stemming the tide of antisemitism and other forms of hatred. We will continue to advocate for public schools where dignity and respect for all are core values of the learning environment.”