Copyright The Boston Herald
On Oct. 15, Congressman Seth Moulton announced that he is running for Senate in Massachusetts. The next day, he announced that he would return all AIPAC funds. He provided little explanation for this decision — or why it comes on the heels of a hopeful ceasefire. His critique of Israel, issued the day after launching his campaign, was opportunistic and fuels the flames of antisemitism. Equally troubling, in making his announcement, Moulton lambasted the Israeli government while remaining silent on Hamas’s recent atrocities against its own people. He also says nothing about the malfeasance of other governments in the region. Does Moulton support the Qatari government, which the U.S. State Department has described as having significant human rights abuses? He has accepted a fully paid trip to Qatar and donations from a Qatari-linked lobbying firm, according to reports. The timing of Moulton’s announcement was deeply insensitive, as it came on the heels of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 atrocities. Indeed, at the same time he was denouncing the Israeli government, the Nova Festival exhibit in Boston bore witness to Hamas’s atrocities — a planned, heinous, and gruesome attack on innocent civilians, involving unspeakable sexual violence, torture, and mutilation. Moulton’s announcement interrupted a moment of reprieve from collective anguish for parents whose children had been held in captivity for 738 days — interspersed with grief for all whose murdered children’s remains are still being held hostage. On the day of his announcement, Hamas was violating the peace agreement by failing to return the bodies of deceased hostages. On that same day, reports were emerging about the unimaginable horrors endured by hostages in Gaza. On that same day, gruesome videos surfaced of public executions carried out by Hamas against the citizens of Gaza. Moulton’s response to all of these abuses? Silence. As Hamas refuses to disarm, Moulton panders, stating that “a political resolution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace is exactly the kind of framework I’ve been calling for.” His announcement undermines this goal. The timing of Moulton’s hypocritical rebuke of AIPAC is nothing less than a blatant, self-righteous, and cheap play to antisemitism. Elyse Richelle Park, Ph.D, MPH, is a practicing clinical health psychologist Seth Goodman Park, Esq, practices humanitarian-based immigration law
