March 20, 2024
Northern Va. school district allows Jewish students to skip Holocaust lecture for fear of bullying
Jewish Insider
“We would not have handled this issue in the way that the principal at Cooper Middle School did,” said Guila Franklin Siegel, associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
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March 19, 2024
Maryland Statehouse passes new hate crimes commission bill after CAIR controversy
Jewish Insider
The Maryland House of Delegates on Monday passed a bill restructuring the state’s hate crimes commission following months of controversy regarding a member of the body who has posted incendiary and antisemitic content on social media since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
March 19, 2024
JCRC Statement on Holocaust Survivor Presentation at Cooper Middle School
JCRC of Greater Washington
Today, the JCRC was pleased to coordinate a visit by Col. Frank Cohn, a Holocaust survivor who later served 35 years in the U.S. Army, to Cooper Middle School in Fairfax County, Virginia. Col. Cohn spoke to a packed auditorium of 500 students about his experiences during the Shoah. We are so fortunate that Col. Cohn was able to share his Shoah narrative with students of all backgrounds and faiths, and commend Cooper Middle School officials for recognizing that Holocaust survivor testimony is a critical supplement to classroom-based curricula.
March 16, 2024
Hogan says he would be Maryland’s ‘pro-Israel champion’ in Congress
The Washington Post
Hogan (R) used a speech Friday to the influential Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington to emphasize that Hamas must be held accountable for the Oct. 7 attack that killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel. Any cease-fire, he said, would depend upon the return of those taken during the attack.
March 15, 2024
Former Maryland Governor speaks before Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
WUSA9
The JCRC of Greater Washington hosted former Gov. Larry Hogan in the first of a series of town halls with candidates for elected office.
March 13, 2024
Moco360 Media
Ron Halber, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said programs such as this one are imperative as the need for them increases.
March 13, 2024
136 Organizations Get Security Grant Funding to Deter Hate Crimes
mymcm
136 nonprofits, faith organizations and houses of worship in Montgomery County were awarded $900,000 in security grants in an effort to deter hate crimes.
March 13, 2024
MCEA Ceasefire Resolution Deemed Out of Order
Washington Jewish Week
A resolution calling for a “Ceasefire in Israel and Palestine” by members of the Montgomery County Education Association was ruled out of order at a March 6 meeting and was therefore not voted upon.
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March 12, 2024
JCRC Statement on Reinstatement of Suspended Montgomery County Teachers
JCRC of Greater Washington
In a time when antisemitism is running rampant, schools must do their part to ensure Jewish students have a safe and secure learning environment. More than 3,500 people in Montgomery County signed a JCRC petition urging MCPS to fully investigate teachers who spread hateful and divisive messages in the aftermath of Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7. We appreciate MCPS for its due diligence in this matter, including reassigning these teachers to different schools and reinforcing the standards of its social media guidelines for educators and staff.
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March 12, 2024
3 of 4 Teachers on Leave for Social Media Posts Return to Classroom
mymcm
Three of the four teachers placed on administrative leave in connection with their social media posts concerning the Mideast War and antisemitism are back teaching at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).
March 7, 2024
MCEA Declines to Pass Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
Montgomery Perspective
Last night’s meeting of the Montgomery County Education Association’s (MCEA) representative assembly produced its endorsements in the school board primaries. It also addressed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza. The resolution, proposed by a member and not by the union’s board, provoked pushback from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC).
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March 7, 2024
Moco360 Media
During Wednesday’s meeting, the union called off a vote on a proposed resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Before the Wednesday meeting, a group of Jewish MCPS teachers and staff – part of the Montgomery County Jewish Educators Alliance (MCJEA) – and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington rallied outside of union headquarters urging members to oppose a proposed resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
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March 7, 2024
JCRC Statement on Failure of MCEA Ceasefire Resolution
JCRC of Greater Washington
MCEA did the right thing by standing down on a resolution that would have clearly violated the standards of its own constitution. If passed, this resolution would have done nothing to educate students or support teachers, but would have caused real harm to Jewish families and educators already battling a sharp increase in antisemitism attacks in our community. It should never have even been considered, but we are pleased that it ultimately received the fate it deserved.
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March 6, 2024
U.S. ties to Qatar in spotlight, and under scrutiny, following strategic dialogue
Jewish Insider
Since January, the JCRC has hosted semi-regular gatherings outside the Qatari embassy demanding that its leaders do more to pressure Hamas. But Halber, too, is cognizant of the fact that Qatar, for better or worse, plays a key role in the Middle East; he has refrained from using the words “protest” or “rally” to describe the events.
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March 6, 2024
Teachers’ Union Declares Mideast Ceasefire Resolution ‘Out of Order’
mymcm
The Montgomery County Educations Association (MCEA) ruled that a resolution in support of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine was out of order. Therefore, no vote was taken.
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March 5, 2024
JCRC Pressures MCEA, County Council on Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
Montgomery Perspective
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC) is demanding that the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), which represents MCPS teachers, reject a proposed resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. And JCRC isn’t just targeting MCEA – it is communicating its concerns to the county council too.
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March 3, 2024
JCRC Statement on MCEA Proposed Ceasefire Resolution
JCRC of Greater Washington
It is deeply alarming that MCEA is wasting its time and resources voting on a resolution that is biased against Israel, puts Jewish students and educators in Montgomery County at greater risk of anti-semitic attacks, violates the standards of its own constitution, and will do absolutely nothing to advance the cause of peace abroad or support the academic success or safety of our children at home. We urge MCEA to drop this charade and keep its focus on properly educating our children.
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February 29, 2024
JCRC Roundtable Event Features Palestinian Human Rights Activist
Washington Jewish Week
Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid spent 33 years living in a United Nations Refugee Works Agency camp. As he grew older, he could not stop wondering why so many of his fellow Palestinians were still in the same refugee camps when they should have moved on generations ago.
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February 29, 2024
Maryland Jewish Advocacy Day Focuses on Holocaust Education and Combating Antisemitism
Washington Jewish Week
More than 250 people traveled to Annapolis from Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Howard County on Feb. 21 for Maryland Jewish Advocacy Day, which took place for the first time since the pandemic struck.
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February 21, 2024
State lawmakers debate whether to remove CAIR from hate crimes commission
Moco360 Media
Tensions flared in the Maryland General Assembly House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as legislators and community leaders debated whether the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) should be removed from the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention.
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February 15, 2024
JCRC Statement on CAIR’s lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools
JCRC of Greater Washington
We are disappointed, though not surprised, that CAIR — an organization whose leaders regularly spew antisemitic vitriol — would file a lawsuit that blatantly disregards the education and wellbeing of Jewish children and families in Maryland’s largest school district.
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February 12, 2024
JCRC Statement on Rescue of Two Israeli Hostages from Hamas Terrorists
JCRC of Greater Washington
We are elated that Fernando Merman and Luis Har have been rescued and returned safely to Israel. The heroic members of the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet who risked their own lives to free them and eliminate their terrorist captors are courage personified. We now need a diplomatic rescue mission. Freeing hostages will not only save their lives, but the lives of many people in Gaza and Israel who will be spared further bloodshed.
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February 3, 2024
JCRC of Greater Washington
We thank Dr. McKnight for her distinguished service and her leadership of MCPS as it emerged from the COVID pandemic and confronted a multitude of unprecedented challenges. Leading the 14th largest school system in the country is not an easy task. We have always especially appreciated Dr. McKnight’s sincere intent in confronting school-based racism, antisemitism, and hatred, which remains a major crisis within MCPS. Her presence at Walt Whitman High School on the night after a horrific incident of antisemitic vandalism, her implementation of new bias incident reporting policies and procedures, and her willingness to engage directly with Jewish students and community members at town halls at several synagogues, all demonstrated her desire to address the Jewish community’s concerns.
February 2, 2024
DC, NY, Ottawa Jews urge Qatar to help release hostages in Gaza
Jewish News Syndicate
Members of the Jewish communities of New York City, Ottawa and Washington, D.C., held coordinated demonstrations on Feb. 2 at Qatari diplomatic buildings to urge Doha to put additional pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages in Gaza.
February 1, 2024
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish communities in the United States are also urging Qatar to stay in the game. Several hundred Washington area Jews rallied recently outside the Qatari embassy in Washington, asking for greater efforts to free the hostages. More rallies are planned for Friday outside Qatari missions in Washington, New York and Ottawa.
