Letter: Reply to Taishya Adams – Re: BNSCP IS NOW CENSORING FAIR PUBLIC COMMENT

To Taishya Adams and Aaron Brockett:   

Council member Adams, why is it that your reply, below – copied to Mayor Brockett and the Assistant City Manager Rivera-Vandermyde – is to my first letter of July 10, and not to the second one?  That second letter informed you of even more egregious, harmful and possibly illegal conduct by BNSCP, specifically: “In addition to deleting comments …, BNSCP has now blocked myself, Rachel Amaru, Elise Mordos and Aaron Brooks from accessing its Facebook page. And also Barbara Steinmetz, a tireless 87 year old contributor and participant in Boulder’s vibrant civic life.” 

There is specific and ongoingharm as a result of BNSCP’s blocking access to the facilities they use to communicate with the public. These facilities are an asset for public benefit, since they flow from BNSCP’s status as an official Boulder sister city operator. And while your concern may be that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is available for all living beings – humans, other species, and the planet”, there is a controlling Resolution, #631, that repeatedly states that the sister cities program is for all citizens/residents of Boulder and makes clear that “[M]embership may not be denied based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a minority group, … or because of the expression of unpopular political opinion.” Similarly, the mere expression of opinions contrary to BNSCP’s can’t be a legitimate basis for blocking access to the facilities they use for public communication. (Nor is BNSCP entitled to the Colorado HB 23-1306 shield that you, council member Adams, relied on when you blocked me from fairly commenting on your personal Facebook posts about Israel and Gaza.) 

The harm from this censorship continues unabated every day. Yet your response is to deflect the matter into an irrelevant, nonexistent process and indefinite delay: a “request” that Council review and evaluate “the entire Sister Cities programs”. Have there even been any complaints concerning Boulder’s other sister cities projects? Your response smacks of callous insensitivity to the immediate violation of the rights of five people – all Jews – who were blocked for having posted fair and reasonable comments. It echoes your reply to my letters of April 17 and 19: “Thank you for your email Bruce. We have followed up and requested a meeting” –which was followed by nothing. It is a reminder of how you and likeminded Council members conflated the proposed resolution against antisemitism with Islamophobia, effectively backburning it indefinitely. This, after Mayor Brockett represented to members of the Jewish community that it would be brought to a vote forthwith. 

As mentioned, all five people censored by BNSCP are Jews. Would your response have been the same if all five were People of Color? Indigenous Americans? Muslims? Of the LGBTQ community? It is not a coincidence that the complaints were from Jews. For us, matters concerning Israel and the Palestinians are not just an ‘issue’, an intersectional cause de jour, an abstraction upon which to project a simplistic worldview void of factual applicability. It’s personal. Israel is at the core of modern Jewish identity, the yearning for Zion is at the core of our ancient faith, and ensuring the survival of the sole place of safety and sovereignty for Jewish refugees expelled from 60-some nations is our existential mandate. And we will resist any attempts to demonize and delegitimize the manifestation of those interests, as is so often embedded in BNSCP’s messaging. But unlike BNSCP, we’re open to fair criticism, including about Israel’s policies and practices regarding the Palestinians.  

Mayor Brockett, your duty here is to the public, not to council member Adams, and one can no longer plausibly assert that Adams inspires full public confidence or has the appearance of fairness, in her role as liaison / monitor for BNSCP. She has not responded substantively to a single complaint against BNSCP. Her personal Facebook posts parrot misleading and demonizing accusations against Israel. Well within her rights, she accepted the local Democratic Socialists of America’s endorsement of her candidacy. However, anti-Zionism – an assault on Israel’s legitimacy – is so fundamental to DSA’s platform that it withdrew its endorsement of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because, in part, she convened a panel on the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. And right here in Boulder, this item was on the local DSA chapter’s August 3 General Meeting agenda: 

“Discussion on Statement Pushing McGuckin’s to follow B[oycott] D[ivest] S[anction movement against Israel]. 

Paul to discuss his statement and potential vote on endorsing the statement.”

(As members of Boulder’s DSA chapter, council members Nicole Speer and Lauren Folkerts would also not have the appearance of fairness to oversee BNSCP.)

Mayor Brockett, it is past time to revoke BNSCP’s sister city charter. At the very minimum, you need to replace council member Adams as the liaison, require BNSCP to open their Facebook page to those it blocked, and hold BNSCP to strict compliance with Resolution 631, all applicable law, and the Commitments that BNSCP itself created and agreed to in order to obtain sister city status in 2016. 

Thank you for your attention.

Bruce Shaffer, joined by Rachel Amaru, Elise Mordos, Aaron Brooks and Jean Unger.
Boulder, Colorado