Editor’s note: This story was originally posted at 3:08 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2023. It was updated at 3:18 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2023 to include a statement from Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
Zainab Chaudry, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Maryland Director, was reinstated to the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention two weeks after she was suspended for social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war, according to a release sent Wednesday from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
According to the release, the law “does not provide the Attorney General the authority to remove a Commissioner before the expiration of their term nor the authority to suspend a Commissioner during their term of service.”
Over the past several weeks, Chaudry has been vocal on her public Facebook page in condemning the Israeli government and voicing concern for Palestinian civilians killed in the war. She has called the Israeli government’s actions “genocide” and has called for a ceasefire. She was criticized for these posts by public officials including Del. Joe Vogel (D-Dist. 18) and organizations such as the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC), which called the statements “antisemitic.”
“I will never be able to understand how the world summoned up rage for 40 fake Israeli babies while completely turning a blind eye to 3,000 real Palestinian babies,” she wrote in an Oct. 26 post.
According to the Associated Press, at least 29 children were killed by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack, and around 30 were taken hostage. Unverified reports circulating on social media that 40 babies were beheaded by Hamas has been controversial, as President Joe Biden (D) said he’d seen photographic evidence and then backtracked this claim later. However, the Israeli government has not been able to specifically corroborate whether 40 babies were beheaded.
At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and around 240 people were taken hostage. The Washington Post reported on Nov. 13 that more than 11,100 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7–4,609 of whom were children.
Chaudry’s postings compared Israel to Nazis in an image she reposted from another Facebook user, juxtaposing Nazi flags on a German building in 1936 with Israeli flags projected on the same building in 2023.
“[T]hat moment when you become what you hated most,” Chaudry wrote in her post.
Chaudry said in an email statement to MoCo360 last month that she stands by her posts.
“Succumbing to pressure from dangerous, defamatory smear campaigns designed to fuel the fires of anti-Muslim bigotry and chill free speech, and to silence those advocating for justice, undermines the mission and work of the commission,” Chaudry wrote.
“None of the criticisms that I leveled against Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right, racist and openly genocidal government on my personal social media accounts violated any known commission standards and there is no legal basis for suspending the participation of my civil rights organization, which is mandated by state law,” she wrote.
Vogel released a statement on Wednesday that he plans to introduce legislation that would allow commission members to be removed. Vogel sponsored the initial legislation that created the commission during the 2023 General Assembly session.
“In light of the Attorney General’s announcement today, I have requested legislation be drafted that I will sponsor this upcoming session, providing the Attorney General with authority to suspend and remove members of the commission who violate an established code of conduct,” Vogel wrote. “I will urge for this to be considered emergency legislation, so the commission can carry on with its vital mission. Until this authority is granted to the Attorney General, it is my position that this commission should delay any further meetings.”
Chaudry directed MoCo360 to a statement made by CAIR.
“We welcome Attorney General Anthony Brown’s decision to reinstate the appointment. We also appreciate the productive conversations we have held with Attorney General Brown and his staff over the past few weeks,” CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement. “We agree that it is important for the commission to collaboratively develop additional guidelines and we look forward to upholding those guidelines, which must apply consistently to all commissioners.”
According to the statement from the Attorney General’s office, Brown will distribute draft operating guidelines to members prior to the commission’s next meeting on Dec. 13, “which include personal communications and how to balance the members’ right to freedom of speech and their roles as Commissioners for their review and feedback,” the release said.
“In accepting these positions, appointees assume an obligation to put their own interests aside when coming to the table to serve as advisors on matters of such great public importance,” the release said.
Ron Halber, executive director of the JCRC, released a statement Wednesday afternoon expressing disappointment that Chaudry will remain on the commission. Halber condemned Chaudry’s posts last month.
“We wholeheartedly supported Attorney General Brown’s decision to temporarily suspend her from the commission in light of these vicious and antisemitic lies and wish it could be permanent,” Halber wrote. “Ms. Chaudry remains a divisive and polarizing presence on the commission, which dramatically undermines its ability to carry out its critical mission.”
CAIR thanked community members who voiced support for Chaudry in its statement Wednesday. According to CAIR, more than 5,500 individuals signed a petition protesting Brown’s decision to suspend Chaudry.
“The anti-Muslim threats and other harassment directed at Dr. Chaudry last month were defamatory, dangerous, and, sadly, a very small taste of what many other American Muslims have experienced in recent months,” Mitchell wrote in his statement. “It is more important than ever for the State of Maryland to counter Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism and other forms of hate that threaten Maryland communities.”