Maryland attorney general reinstates CAIR-Maryland director to hate crimes panel

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has reinstated to the state Hate Crimes Commission a Muslim leader who had been suspended over her social media posts in support of Palestinians that had been deemed antisemitic.

Mr. Brown, a Democrat, said Wednesday that he does not have the authority to suspend or remove commissioners under the panel’s enabling legislation, which he said is silent on those matters. He said his office is working on draft guidelines for personal communications by panel members and “how to balance the members’ right to freedom of speech and their roles as Commissioners” for the commission’s review.

“Once the guidelines are finalized, all Commission members will be expected to comply with them and I fully anticipate that they will,” Mr. Brown said.

Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Maryland, was suspended from the Hate Crimes Commission after some of social media posts on the Israel-Hamas war were made public.

“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,” Ms. Chaudry posted on Facebook about three weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel that left at least 1,200 people dead and more than 200 others taken hostage.

Ms. Chaudry also posted graphics and memes comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and saying the Israel-Hamas conflict “started in 1948” when the Jewish state was established. Those posts received media coverage in the U.S. and Britain before Mr. Brown announced her suspension on Nov. 21.

The national CAIR office led a petition drive that garnered more than 5,500 signatures calling for her reinstatement. 

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s deputy director, said Ms. Chaudry “Looks forward to continuing the critical work of representing the state’s Muslim communities and addressing hate bias, including both Islamophobia and antisemitism, while also advocating justice for all communities here and abroad.”

But Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington, said the reinstatement was the wrong move.

“Ms. Chaudry remains a divisive and polarizing presence on the commission, which dramatically undermines its ability to carry out its critical mission,” Mr. Halber told The Washington Times via email. “We believe she should resign, and her seat should be filled by someone who is committed to stopping rather than spreading hate.”