On Tuesday, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced that he has temporarily suspended Zainab Chuadry's membership from the new Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention.
WMAR-2 News reached out last week with the screenshots in this article to the OAG press office for a comment. A spokesperson for the office told us that email was what made them aware of the "personal social media posts by a member of the Commission."
The Commission is brand new and has only held its first meeting in mid-September.
Chaudry was representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an important voice for Muslim Marylanders in the effort to fight hate crimes.
Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Southern Israel, Chaudry publicly posted the following to her personal Facebook account, which we have taken screenshots of.
The precise number of people killed in the initial attack that prompted this war, is unknown, but CNN has the numbers as more than 1,200. More than 200 people were taken by Hamas, according to CNN.
Israel's response to the attack was a bombardment of air strikes in the Gaza strip, and later a ground invasion, which as of November 21 has killed at least 4,100 children and more than 12,000 people including adults, per CNN.
The conflict and ensuing increase of hate-bias incidents that have been reported by both Muslims and Jews across the United States happened after that initial meeting of the Hate Crimes Commission. Its next meeting is scheduled for mid-December.
The original response from spokesperson Jennifer Donelan for the Office of the Attorney General last week was that "the views and opinions of any individual commission member do not reflect those of either the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention or the Attorney General."
They added that the Commission still needed to "develop policies and protocols governing it work and the way in which its members engage on the issues that define its mission."
There have also been heavy debates over what is anti-Jewish versus what is considered anti-Israel, as well as the definitions of phrases used during protests and rallies.
Representative Rashida Talib of Michigan, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, was censured earlier this month for using the phrase “from the river to the sea.” When some argued that the phrase called for the annihilation of Israel, she said it was an aspirational call for freedom.
The Attorney General added that CAIR is required by Maryland law to serve on the new commission and that "Ms. Chaudry's posts on her personal social media since October 7, in these very early days, have challenged the Commission's ability to do its work."
He also called "on all members of the Commission to exercise great care in their communications and conduct, considering the duties and responsibilities they assumed when joining the Commission."
Brown said in his statement Tuesday, "The Commission is facing its first test. How we respond has deep implications. I take this very seriously and I will do everything possible to bring people together to move forward the critical work of this Commission."
The Baltimore Jewish Council, also represented on the Commission, thanked the OAG for this action.
Thank you to @OAGMaryland for this initial first step. As a member of the Hate Crimes Commission, we think it is critically important for all members to be respectful and to avoid hateful comments or conduct. https://t.co/ioNN2A1DJp
— Baltimore Jewish Council (@baltjc) November 21, 2023
CAIR responded to our request for a statement by sending a statement from Chaudry. The full statement is below.
"Over the past six weeks, anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Palestinian racism have soared in Maryland and across our nation, leading to unprecedented harassment, discrimination, censorship, intimidation and hate crimes.
"As the sole American Muslim representative on the Attorney General's Hate Crimes Commission, my role is to help ensure the State of Maryland can take effective action to confront bigotry impacting Maryland Muslim communities. That role is more important now than ever before.
"As I expressed to the Attorney General today and as I plan to express during our next meeting tomorrow, 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.
"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.
"Criticism of foreign governments, including those established as apartheid governments as is Israel, is protected free speech. Other members of the commission represent organizations that have openly expressed support for the Israeli government's genocidal violence against Palestinians in Gaza and support for bigotry here at home. Just a few weeks ago, the Anti-Defamation League co-hosted a rally featuring notoriously anti-Muslim and antisemitic bigot John Hagee.
"Let's be clear. Embracing bigots like John Hagee and the Israeli government's slaughter of over 14,000 Palestinians--most of them women and children--are what everyone should find offensive, not personal social media posts stripped of context.
"The Israeli prime minister has analogized the bombing of Gaza to an ancient biblical story about the total genocide of a city, the Israeli president has declared that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza, the Israel defense minister has justified starving Palestinian civilians by calling them 'human animals,' the Israeli military spokesman has said that the aim of their bombing campaign is destruction rather than accuracy, and multiple Israeli ministers have called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, with one even calling the ongoing war a 'Nakba 2023.'
"The Israeli government has also acted on these genocidal threats by forcing a million people off their land, bombing everything from UN schools, a refugee camp, mosques and churches to ambulances and residential buildings, and killing over 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children murdered in their homes. Unlike many of the Israeli government's most extreme supporters, I recognize that killing any civilians is wrong, which is why my office has repeatedly condemned the killing of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
"Every commissioner appointed to this Hate Crimes Prevention Commission should be able to agree that there is no conflict between condemning the Israeli government's war crimes overseas and standing up against all forms of hate here at home, including Islamophobia, antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism. False smears from anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim extremists will not stop me and others from standing up for justice here and abroad.
"I look forward to continuing to advocate for justice through my activism, and expect a measured and appropriate response from Attorney General Anthony Brown for the sake of the commission’s mission and Maryland’s diverse communities that it aims to serve."
- Dr. Zainab Chaudry Statement, sent in response to request for statement from CAIR.
The OAG's office confirmed that Chaudry was temporarily suspended as an individual, but her organization was not.
