“A Seat at the Table” is NA’AMAT’s new three-part series with Rachel Feldman. Her message in the first session was simple: antizionism is spreading through local communities, and local communities are where it can be stopped.
Feldman is a former TV reporter who served as chief of staff to then–Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott and led communications for the Vermont Agency of Human Services. Today she organizes with groups including Shalom Alliance and Vermont Friends of Israel.
Her turning point was October 7. Her former student Roni, 23, was killed at the Nova festival after running back to save a sick friend. Then came October 8, and a world response she saw as celebration and justification. The granddaughter of a Dachau liberator, she resigned her state job rather than limit when she could speak.
Where she sees it
Feldman calls antizionism the newest form of the oldest hatred, rebranded to sound peaceful. She urged people to stop defending Zionism and start naming what’s happening. She also stressed explaining that Jews are an ethno-religious people, not only a religion.
She sees it in three places:
- Schools: campus encampments and K–12 materials such as “Teaching Palestine” and “liberated ethnic studies.”
- Communities: street protests and neighborhood campaigns.
- Local government: ballot measures for BDS, ceasefire resolutions, or “apartheid-free communities.”
Nearly every attendee had seen these locally. Feldman says Vermont, with about 640,000 people, is a testing ground for tactics that later spread nationally. The good news: of more than 42 towns targeted with “apartheid-free” measures since 2021, all but nine rejected them.
Her advice
- Keep the receipts. Attend local meetings, collect flyers, and screenshot anything that feels off. Bring a buddy if you feel unsafe.
- Be bold where it’s safe. Courage is contagious, and visible pride tells others they’re not alone.
- Be discreet when you need to. A chai, a mezuzah pendant, or Hebrew lettering still signals to those who recognize it.
- Know your local officials. Select boards, city councils, and school boards often respond when state agencies don’t.
She was candid about the cost: online hate, libel, and physical attacks. But walking with a straight spine, she said, baffles the people who hate you.
From the room
Attendees shared two approaches. Some open doors through connection. A California grandmother answered her grandson’s Ramadan gift bag by offering Hanukkah bags and challah-braiding, and was invited to teach more about Judaism. A retired Chicago teacher won over a school staff with chocolate-covered matzah.
Others pushed on curriculum. Connecticut parents worried about new ethnic studies plans and unanswered questions to state officials. One noted Holocaust education there has no statewide curriculum. Feldman added that Vermont has no Holocaust education standards at all.
What’s next
The second of the three sessions, in September, will include a guide for engaging with local school boards. Until then, email [email protected] to share what you’re seeing or get connected with nearby groups.
Remember, we have always been outnumbered, but we have never been outmatched.
