(UnitedVoice.com) – One year ago, at the beginning of June 2022, a new website called the Mapping Project went live. It immediately caused an uproar. The website claims it’s a “multi-generational collective of activists and organizers” in Massachusetts that keeps track of organizations that support the occupation of land Palestine claims belongs to it.
A congressman is now asking the Department of Justice to look into the website.
Congressman’s Request
Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) is very concerned about the Mapping website. In a letter obtained by One America News (OANN), the representative asked US Attorney General Merrick Garland to take action. He said that he thinks a full probe into the Mapping Project is warranted. The congressman wants to know who is funding the site and where it came from, “including possible collaboration” with Iran.
The Michigan congressman said that he’s worried the Iranian government could be secretly supporting the site, which is billing itself as a social justice movement in America. He thinks it could “sew social discord and undermine public faith in American institutions.”
According to the lawmaker, the interactive map allows people to see the exact locations of over 500 organizations, including civil and religious groups in Massachusetts. Those include 271 law enforcement stations, nine military bases, and offices for Homeland Security, the FBI, and Secret Service.
Concerns From the Anti-Defamation League
The ADL has expressed concerns that many of the social and religious organizations on the list are Jewish. The Mapping Project is supported by the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement. Further, the civil rights organization said the project called on people to “dismantle [and] disrupt” Boston’s Jewish community.
According to the ADL, the Mapping Project names and shames Jewish organizations.
When the website launched last year, The Associated Press reported MIT, Harvard, Moderna, and other schools and companies were also listed by the mapping site. The project accused the groups of all kinds of bad deeds, ranging from Jewish nationalism to ethnic cleansing.
Robert Trestan, head of the New England branch of the ADL, pointed out that Jewish institutions around the nation are being targeted like they are the “pin[s] in the middle of the map.” US Attorney Rachael Rollins, who serves Massachusetts, told the AP that the Mapping Project uses dangerous language and said authorities were investigating to get to the bottom of the website. A year later, it doesn’t seem anything ever came from the probe.
Garland has not yet responded to the congressman’s letter publicly. There’s no indication that he ordered a probe, either.
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