Zainab Chaudry, executive director for the Maryland branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has provoked a reaction from the state’s lawmakers following a series of antisemitic, pro-Hamas social-media posts made after the terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7
Chaudry called Hamas “freedom fighters” who had engaged in “resistance.” She compared Israel to Nazis—sharing an image with a swastika juxtaposed with the Israeli flag—and euphemized the border invasion that left more than 1,200 people dead and 240 kidnapped as an “uprising.”
She has since defended the posts, which has resulted in a temporary removal from the Maryland Hate Crimes Commission.
In response, Maryland state delegate Dalya Attar (D-District 41), who also sits on the Ways and Means Committee, told Jewish Insider that “we are working on legislation to remove CAIR.”
Chaudry had previously been removed from her position on the panel but was reinstated in December after the state’s attorney general determined he did not have the authority to remove her.
National CAIR lost its advisory position on the White House’s strategy to counter antisemitism following the statement by Nihad Awad, its co-founder and executive director, that he was “happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land.”
As of Monday, a Change.org petition calling for CAIR’s removal from the commission has garnered 6,995 signatures with a target of 7,500
