Boston, MA
Boston city councilor who criticized Gaza cease-fire vote files pro-Jewish resolution
A Boston city councilor who voted against a cease-fire resolution criticized by Jewish groups for being one-sided in failing to condemn the Hamas terror attack is asking his colleagues to denounce antisemitism and declare support for local Jews.
Ed Flynn, a supporter of Israel who joined fellow moderate Erin Murphy in voting against a measure put forward by Tania Fernandes Anderson last week that declared the majority progressive body’s support for a cease-fire in Gaza, has filed a resolution for Wednesday’s meeting, “denouncing acts of antisemitism.”
“We have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitism, neo-Nazism, and hate crimes locally and across the country over the last several years, especially after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Flynn said in a Monday statement to the Herald. “We have Jewish neighbors who are now afraid for their safety.
“Now, more than ever, it is critical that we stand up for our Jewish neighbors, continue to denounce antisemitism, and any hate speech or crime.”
The resolution was filed during what is recognized as Jewish American Heritage Month, and petitions the City Council to “recognize and celebrate the many contributions that Jewish Americans bring to our city and country.”
It cites statistics from the Anti-Defamation League, that show, since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 Israelis, recognized as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, New England has seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents.
There have been 623 reported incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism, which represents a 205% increase from 2022 and the highest number since the ADL began tracking those statistics four decades ago, the resolution states.
While Flynn insists his resolution is not in response to the cease-fire measure adopted by the City Council last week, it comes on the heels of criticism he and the Jewish community have directed at that vote.
The ADL and Jewish Community Relations Council criticized the City Council’s cease-fire language for being “one-sided,” and failing to condemn the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, acknowledge that it sparked the war, or identify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Israel’s retaliatory bombing has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Herald was told city councilors had been debating adding language about the Hamas terror attack in the text of the cease-fire resolution, but were pressured by progressive groups to not include that language in the final draft.
After his ‘no’ vote last week, Flynn mentioned the measure’s failure to condemn the terror attack and said, “The City Council is not the place to debate and vote on divisive and controversial international issues.”
Notably, however, the city’s only Jewish councilor, Benjamin Weber, said the approved resolution, while not perfect, “represents an important step towards reconciliation and shared acknowledgement within both the Jewish and Palestinian communities here in Boston.”
It’s going to be a little while longer before Roman Anthony returns to action.
The Red Sox outfielder has suffered another setback in his recovery from a sprained right hand and will be shut down from swinging for a couple of days.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters in Cleveland that Anthony tried hitting off a tee Thursday for the first time since suffering his injury on May 4, but that he found doing so to be painful.
“He hit off the tee (yesterday) and had some discomfort, so we’re going to slow play it,” Tracy said, per MLB.com’s Henry Palattella. “It’s going to be day-to-day, or even the better way is ‘action-to-action.’ (We’re going to be asking), ‘What did he do today, is that uncomfortable and do we have to wait?’ ”
Originally thought to be a minor issue that might not even require a stint on the injured list, Anthony has now missed 21 games and likely won’t be back until early-to-mid June.
The recovery process has also been halting. Anthony has continued doing most other baseball activities, including running and throwing, but it wasn’t until earlier this week that he could swing a bat free of discomfort.
Once he was able to comfortably take dry swings — or swing a bat without hitting the ball — the next step was hitting off a tee. Now he’ll be given a couple more days to heal and likely won’t try again until the Red Sox return home from Cleveland and are back at Fenway Park on Tuesday following Monday’s off day.
Tracy acknowledged that the recovery hasn’t gone as smoothly as expected, but emphasized that isn’t because of anything Anthony’s done wrong.
“That’s not Roman’s fault, it’s not anyone’s fault,” Tracy said. “It’s just he got hurt, and it’s a nagging injury on a hand when he’s trying to hit.”
Speaking to Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast prior to Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, Anthony clarified the exact nature of his injury, which was officially announced by the team as a right wrist sprain. Anthony said he has a partially torn ring finger ligament, specifically his ring finger CMC (carpometacarpal).
The sprain versus torn verbiage has generated some confusion among fans, though medically there isn’t a meaningful distinction between the two.
“I know stuff came out yesterday about tear versus sprain versus strain and all these different things, and I don’t know what to say other than any of those are a tear,” Tracy said. “You strain a hamstring and that’s a partial tear; fibers let go a little bit and they need to heal.
“I don’t think anything is portrayed differently or wrongly. If a guy strains his hamstring, I won’t come out here and say he tore his hamstring. That’s not how that works.”
Prior to suffering his injury, Anthony was batting .229 with one home run and a .675 OPS through his first 30 games this season.
Surprise: Another weekend and there’s more rain on the way. It’s bad enough we’ve had to post a First Alert.
For now, we’ll watch as clouds thicken today. We’ll squeeze out some drops later this afternoon and evening.
A weather maker is winding up in Canada, wrapping in cold air. All of that is going to dive down to New England.
We’re in the thick of it tomorrow. Rain will be coming at us in bursts with some dry time in between. Winds will likely push past 50 mph in Boston.
Those winds will eat away at temperatures; with wind chills barely above freezing. And no – not just in the morning – but the afternoon, too!
It’s so cold there’s the threat of snow as that rain bumps into colder air over the Berkshires, Worcester Hills and southern New Hampshire right up to Mount Washington.
The snow isn’t going to pile up but just know there could be some flakes flying over our highest hills.
The blue on our Futurecast map marks the spots where snow could mix with rain.
Rain spins out by Saturday evening but not before dumping about half an inch over Boston.
We’ll try to salvage the rest of the weekend with temperatures in the upper 60s by Sunday. Still, there’s the threat of bits and pieces of rain.
By the way, this isn’t any weekend, it’s the last weekend of spring. Meteorological summer starts on June 1.
The first day of summer remains drab and dreary with more rain chances and temperatures in the low 60 on Monday.
Federal immigration demands are once again centered on Massachusetts.
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday sent three letters to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden demanding, among other things, information on how many ICE detainers BPD has received and declined to honor from 2022 to 2026 and any communication between the three departments related to immigration.
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a statement that “releasing repeat criminals back to the streets solely because of their immigration status is crazy, and that’s exactly what Boston is doing.”
But Democrats push back on that framing.
“You’re familiar with Jim Jordan and his antics,” said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. “This is more circus, it’s more theater and it’s not making our community safe.”
A spokesperson for the City of Boston wrote, “the city has provided this information many times…” going on to say “…these policies are part of keeping Boston the safest major city in America.”
The letters call for the documents to be sent to the House Judiciary Committee by June 10th at 5:00 pm. District Attorney Hayden’s office told NBC 10 they are reviewing the letter, neither Commissioner Cox or Sheriff Tompkins responded to requests for comment.
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