Maryland and Montgomery County leaders will convene for a Jewish solidarity event in Rockville Friday morning following national incidents of Jewish cemeteries being vandalized and community centers and schools receiving bomb threats.
The event featuring U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, Reps. John Delaney, John Sarbanes and Jamie Raskin, as well as Montgomery County officials, will start at 10 a.m. at the Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington at 6125 Montrose Road.
“We want to make sure that our Jewish community knows they are valued and respected,” County Executive Ike Leggett said in a statement. “They are an integral part of our county’s celebrated, diverse makeup.”
On Monday morning, the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville was among 20 Jewish community centers and schools in the country that received a bomb threat. County police swept the school for explosives, but it was not evacuated.
In response, local residents gathered at a nearby parking lot Wednesday to condemn the recent wave of hate and bigotry with an event that was dubbed “bagels not bombs.”