Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has temporarily suspended Zainab Chaudry from the state’s hate crimes commission, citing concerns that her social media posts could disrupt the commission’s work and mission.

Who is Zainab Chaudry?

Chaudry, the director of the Maryland branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), faced criticism for her Facebook posts made on and after October 7. In these posts, she praised Hamas terrorists, drew comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany, and referred to Jewish Americans attending the March for Israel as “genocide sympathizers.”

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Meredith Weisel, a member of the Maryland hate crimes commission and regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Washington office, expressed disappointment that Chaudry’s posts used inflammatory rhetoric instead of fostering unity. Weisel acknowledged policy disagreements regarding Israel and Gaza but emphasized that Chaudry’s remarks were dismissive of the majority of American Jews.

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Chaudry’s October 7 Facebook post referred to the events in Israel as “the uprising in Palestine” and characterized the actions as “resistance.” Two days later, she labeled Hamas terrorists as “freedom fighters” and criticized the perceived bias in Western media narratives. While Chaudry’s views were attributed to her as an individual commission member, the Maryland attorney general clarified that they did not reflect the official stance of the commission or the attorney general.