(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/31/22) – Later today, members of a coalition of 38 organizations will be holding a press conference in Montgomery County at 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850 to call for a public hearing on the contentious IHRA antisemitism definition, and demand that the Montgomery County Council remove the resolution from the Nov. 1 agenda.
WHAT: Interfaith Press Conference Urging Public Comment for Controversial IHRA Resolution
WHEN: Monday, October 31, 5 p.m. ET
WHERE: County Council Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850
CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, zchaudry@cair.com (410) 971-6062
BACKGROUND: Since July, the Montgomery County Council has been negotiating a resolution that would pull language from and affirm the anti-Palestinian IHRA definition of antisemitism, which harmfully conflates criticism of Zionism and the state of Israel with antisemitism. Due to the contentious and divisive nature of the resolution, the Council has received hundreds of emails and calls from concerned community members calling for a public hearing while expressing opposition to this dangerous definition that silences and censors Palestinians.
In July, the Council removed the IHRA resolution from the agenda due to intense community pushback and hundreds of emails sent in three days. The current revised version of the original resolution is now on the agenda for the Tuesday, November 1st Council meeting.
Discussions have taken place at the Council behind closed doors which have excluded Palestinian residents of our county, who will be the most impacted by the adoption of this harmful resolution. The relevant legislative history concerning the revisions to the resolution and feedback from Palestinian residents have been excluded from the staff packet for the current resolution, underscoring how undemocratic and non-transparent the process has been.
The Council President has refused to schedule a public hearing to allow for open and democratic discussion. By holding a press conference on October 31st, members of the community coalition will be sharing updates to its campaign and hearing from community members impacted by the proposed resolution.
The resolution encourages the Police Department to create a tracking mechanism that targets students, teachers, county employees, and community members for political speech, and could lead to withholding of Title XI federal funds due to a 2019 Trump Executive Order, which similarly supports the harmful IHRA definition.
The press conference will include speakers from Maryland 2 Palestine, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Jewish Voice for Peace– DC Metro Chapter, Muslim Voices Coalition, Peace Action Montgomery, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination, and other organizations, as well as students, educators and community members.
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