It took nearly 2 hours for the House Judiciary Committee to hear all the testimony on a bill that would change the membership of the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention.
Delegate Dalya Attar, a Democrat representing a district in Northwest Baltimore City, sponsored the bill that would remove the Council on American-Islamic Relations from the Commission and instead add two members of the Muslim community.
Prior to the bill hearing, chairman Luke Clippinger noted that the committee would be hearing some sensitive topics and that he wouldn't tolerate audience participation.
Attar, in her presentation of the bill brought up that CAIR, and its Maryland Director Dr. Zainab Chaudry, were making statements and a part of efforts that were harmful to other members of the Commission.
Specifically, she brought up CAIR's opposition to ending the opt-out option for LGBTQ-inclusive books in Montgomery County Public Schools and Chaudry's personal Facebook posts around the Israel-Hamas War that got her temporarily suspended from the Commission in November.
Jewish organizations on the Commission, including the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Anti-Defamation League testified in support of the bill.
"Unfortunately, the work of this Commission has been interrupted more than once," said the Washington, D.C. ADL representative to the committee.
Delegate Jon Cardin asked Delegate Attar why other Muslim organizations were not specified in the bill. She answered that other organizations told her they feared retaliation from CAIR if specifically named in the bill.
The first panel of unfavorable testimony included members of other organizations on the Hate Crimes Commission, including CAIR, the ACLU, and NAACP.
"CAIR has consistently condemned antisemitism," said a representative of the organization, adding that they've condemned the Hamas attack on October 7.
Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization, also spoke against the bill.
There were alternating panels for and against the bill, and further into the testimony, Dr. Chaudry addressed the Committee herself, virtually.
"I am not there before you because I have received death threats as recently as yesterday," she said.
She talked about the complexity of the situation, the pain in the Muslim community, and the feeling that their pain has been silenced.
"Our communities have made it clear that CAIR is their voice on this Commission," Chaudry added.
A couple of Delegates asked her if she apologized or retracted the posts that caused her original temporary suspension from the Commission.
She answered that there was some context lost in the posts, but that she has had deep conversations with friends about the posts and has learned about why posts, such as the one comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, were so painful to the Jewish community.
For the bill to move forward, it will need a favorable vote in the Judiciary Committee.
