Editor’s note: The description of Project Shema has been updated in the lead to clearly define the organization’s mission. Other additions to the story include more information about Project Shema’s mission as stated on the organization’s website. 

NORTHAMPTON — Nearly 500 community members have signed a petition demanding Northampton High School administrators cancel professional development training with education group Project Shema, which focuses on addressing antisemitism, and instead plan training on anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia and antisemitism.

The petition, started by parents of current students and current high school staff, cites concerns that Project Shema conflates antisemitic comments with criticism of Israel and support for Palestine.

According to their website, Project Shema hosts training and workshops on “contemporary antisemitism,” particularly related to “anti-Jewish ideas and implicit biases” within conversations about Israel and Palestine.

The petition claims Project Shema closely aligns with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish organization that has come under criticism for actions that undermine social justice movements led by other marginalized communities. It also states that ADL teaches that condemnation of Israel’s actions is considered antisemitism. The authors of the petition say Project Shema employs similar rhetoric when addressing hate toward Jews.

“By using Project Shema as a training resource, NHS (Northampton High School) will be endorsing a narrative that the colonization, ethnic cleansing, and illegal occupation of Palestinian land and people is legitimate,” the petition said. “It will bolster harmful narratives that Palestinians, and Arabs in general, are irrational and inherently antisemitic. NHS will be aligning with those who claim that Israel’s genocide of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza constitutes ‘self defense.’”

Project Shema, however, describes itself as a training and support organization built by progressive Jews that offers programs that focus on depolarizing difficult conversations around anti-Jewish harm to strengthen allyship for and within the Jewish community. Their workshops are designed to empower Jewish leaders and to help Jews and non-Jewish allies slow the spread of anti-Jewish sentiment.

“We do not offer education or advocacy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the organization states on its website. “However, we do help upstanders understand Jewish identity and nurture empathy for Jewish traumas and lived experiences.”

In response to the petition, Superintendent Portia Bonner sent a letter to staff saying the training with Project Shema, scheduled for Tuesday, was initiated after a group of students and their guardians experienced unintentional antisemitism during walkouts in support of Palestine last year.

She said administrators plan to hold another professional development training on Islamophobia Nov. 5 to show commitment to this mission.

The goal of the trainings, Bonner said, is to ensure all students feel safe at school.

“Given current events in Palestine and Israel, we are called to deepen our knowledge, understanding, and skills in addressing both antisemitism and Islamophobia,” Bonner writes. “There is an immense amount of polarization around these topics and many fear engaging in dialogue that could lead to more understanding of each other. We want our schools to be places that are safe, supportive and caring for all our students including those whose homelands are impacted by war, genocide, and famine.”

Jewish Voices for Peace Western Mass released a statement in support of the petition, requesting the administration create a mandatory training on teaching about conflicts in Palestine and Israel through a Palestinian perspective.

“We are beyond disturbed that Northampton High School administrators are hiring the ADL-aligned Project Shema for a staff professional development training,” Jewish Voices for Peace Western Mass spokesperson wrote in a press release. “These organizations conflate criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism, and silence anti-Zionis  t and Palestinian activists under the guise of antisemitism.”

 The petition charges that the antisemi tism education Project Shema offers is not only factually incorrect, but potentially harms both Jews and Palestinians by misdefining antisemitism. Hateful statements and actions aimed at Jews is a very real danger, the petitioners write, especially when it comes from right-wing extremists who also target  Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians. Project Shema and the ADL, however, focus instead on comments pertaining to Israel and its  identity as the Jewish state, which the petitioners say makes “Jews the face of the U.S.–Israel war machine.”

However, Project Shema’s website lists eight principles that guide its work, including one that rejects the notion that one must either support Israel or Palestine. “We long for a future that honors and protects the dignity, national aspirations, and individual and collective wellbeing of Palestinians and Israelis,” it states. “The very foundation of a mutually agreeable solution requires honoring the trauma, needs and rights of both peoples.”

Bonner admits in her letter than she was previously uninformed about the political debate surrounding the definition of antisemitism, but the training is not meant to fuel support for Israel or its politics. Both the trainings on antisemitism and Islamophobia are optional for staff, and faculty can do their own research and learning if they wish.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@ gazettenet.com.