On Wednesday, June 18, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, plans to hold a news conference in front of the Montgomery County Board of Education in Rockville, Maryland, to announce the filing of a complaint challenging Sligo Middle School’s rule prohibiting teachers from displaying the Palestinian flag but allowing the display of other flags, including that if Israel.
The lawsuit alleges that Sligo’s anti-Palestinian flag rule violates the First Amendment.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 18, 12 PM
WHERE: Board of Education Office – 15 W Gude Drive, Suite 100 Rockville, Maryland 20850
CONTACT: Ahmad Kaki, CAIR Staff Attorney, (202) 640-4935, akaki@cair.com; CAIR Office in Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, 410-971-6062, zchaudry@cair.com; CAIR Maryland Outreach Coordinator Kimberly Syuardi, ksyuardi@cair.com, 202-850-9293
LIVESTREAM: https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational
Earlier this year, CAIR released its 2025 Civil Rights Report “Unconstitutional Crackdowns,” which reveals that Islamophobia continues to be at an all-time high across the country. CAIR said viewpoint discrimination against those speaking out against genocide and apartheid was a key factor in many cases.
BACKGROUNDER:
A teacher displayed a handful of small flags on her homeroom door at Sligo Middle School to celebrate the diversity of her students. She had no issues for over a year when Sligo Principal Peter Crable reportedly prohibited her from displaying the Palestinian flag and only the Palestinian flag.
Principal Crable allegedly cited the flag’s apparent controversy, but Sligo itself displays many flags all around the school, including the Israeli flag in the school’s cafeteria. The complaint alleges that this rule forbidding teachers from displaying only the Palestinian flag violates the First Amendment right to free speech.
The Maryland office of CAIR recently condemned a letter issued by Sherwood High School Principal Tim Britton reprimanding and censoring a student’s senior quote in the 2025 yearbook expressing solidarity against Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Earlier this month, the Philadelphia chapter of CAIR (CAIR-Philadelphia) and Lower Merion Alliance for Free Speech on Palestine (LM AFSP) condemned the actions of the Lower Merion School District (LMSD) after a high school student was reportedly forced to remove a Palestinian keffiyeh-patterned headscarf at their graduation ceremony, subjected to a search, made to sit under visible police surveillance for the remainder of the event, and barred from full participation in the graduation ceremony.
In May, CAIR-Philadelphia joined a press conference to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit against the School District of Philadelphia on behalf of a teacher who allegedly faced retaliation when she spoke out against systemic inequities and supported students’ rights, including those of Palestinian and Muslim students.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com