I moved from Andover, Massachusetts to Israel over five years ago, so the day-to-day happenings in my hometown are largely off my radar screen. However, Andover High School (AHS) physics teacher Ron Francis, a former teacher of mine, first caught my attention when I saw an article he wrote in February of 2006. The article was entitled “Media Bias Against Hamas,”[1] and was written in an attempt to support the Palestinian terror group Hamas and to demonize Israel. Francis never once condemned Hamas’ terror tactics or its anti-Semitic ideology, and he even discussed the “silver lining” of Hamas’ victory. Francis challenged Israel’s right to exist in the article by complaining that “the question of the validity of a Jewish-priviledge state is never raised.”[2] (It is interesting that a public school teacher apparently does not know how to correctly spell “privilege”).

Francis’ article was posted on the Website of the “Somerville Divestment Project” (SDP),[3] a group he founded in Somerville, Massachusetts several years ago (Francis teaches in Andover but lives in Somerville). The SDP has been trying unsuccessfully for years to convince the city of Somerville to divest “from Israel bonds and military companies tied to Israel's occupation.”[4] Needless to say, the SDP advocates boycott and divestment of one country in the entire world – the Jewish country of Israel.

The SDP’s Website is filled with hateful propaganda against Israel, and contains articles suggesting that the recent war in Iraq was fought because a cabal of powerful Jews manipulated the U.S. government. One section of the SDP’s Website is entitled, “Iraq: A War for Israel?”[5] This section contains the following quotation from Pat Buchanan: “We charge them [neo-cons] with colluding with Israel to ignite those wars and destroy the Oslo Accords… (They) harbor a ‘passionate attachment’ to a nation not our own that causes them to subordinate the interests of their own country and to act on an assumption that, somehow, what's good for Israel is good for America."[6]

Francis is not content to merely provide quotations of others bashing Israel and Jews. He has also perpetuated the anti-Semitic stereotype that Jews manipulate political process in America and control the media (although he is very careful to always write “zionists” – with a lowercase “z” to show his lack of respect – instead of “Jews”):

"Another strategy that the zionists use is to buy out elected officials. They are also very good at this - witness US congressional votes - no further comment needed!

"A third strategy is to control the discourse in the media about zionism. They are also very good at this...,”[7] wrote Francis.

Despite always claiming to be a human rights activist, Francis was also quoted in the Andover Townsman newspaper as supporting Palestinian suicide bombers: "I do not condemn the Palestinian people because the actions they are taking, given the circumstances they face, (are) completely understandable and within the bounds of normal human behavior. I have to ask myself, would I be any different?"[8]...