U.S.: Maryland

Immigration

Migrant with alleged ISIS ties was living in the U.S. for more than two years, officials say Jovokhir Attoev was released inside the U.S. in 2022. A year later, Uzbekistan put out a global notice that he was wanted for alleged ISIS ties. U.S. officials didn't arrest him until this year.

May 1, 2024   

(NBC) Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently arrested an Uzbek man in Baltimore with alleged ISIS ties after he had been living inside the United States for over two years, according to two U.S. officials. The man, 33-year-old Jovokhir Attoev, crossed the border […]

Crime

Iranian man and two Hells Angels accused in murder-for-hire plot in U.S. An alleged hitman promised to shoot targets and 'erase his head from his torso,' according to a federal indictment.

January 29, 2024 , and   

(NBC) Two Canadian members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang plotted with an Iranian drug trafficker to kill a pair of dissidents who were living in Maryland, the Justice Department and federal officials said Monday. Naji Sharifi Zindashti, aka “Big Guy,” who […]

Crime

Baltimore lawmaker seeks to remove CAIR from Md. hate crimes commission Law creating the commission explicitly guaranteed CAIR, whose executive director praised the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, representation on the civil rights panel

January 4, 2024   

(Jewish Insider) A legislative effort is underway in Maryland to remove the Council on American-Islamic Relations from a state hate crimes body after the organization’s Maryland director published a series of antisemitic Facebook posts after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, […]

Children & Teens

Maryland AG reinstates hate crime task force member who claimed Israeli babies murdered by Hamas were ‘fake’ Anti-Israel activist Zainab Chaudry made numerous antisemitic social posts

December 6, 2023   

(Fox) Democrat Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown on Tuesday reinstated a member of his state’s hate crime task force who posted numerous antisemitic social media posts, including a claim that the babies murdered in the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack were “fake.” […]

Crime

Maryland hate crimes commission member under fire for pro-Hamas posts Zainab Chaudry, the Maryland director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, took to Facebook to call Hamas terrorists ‘freedom fighters’ and compare Israel to Nazi Germany

November 20, 2023   

(Jewish Insider) When Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced the inaugural members of the state’s Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention in August, he said Maryland residents “deserve a safe and inclusive state” and pledged to develop strategies to address hate […]

Academics & Education

Maryland families say LGBTQ school readings violate religious beliefs In a lawsuit, several Montgomery County families are asking a judge for an opt-out from such materials

August 9, 2023   

(Washington Post) Montgomery County’s mandate that students read books with LGBTQ characters forces religious families either to forfeit their beliefs or depart the public school system, lawyers for Muslim and Christian families suing the district said during oral arguments Wednesday at the […]

Clerics & Preachers

GOP reps raise alarm bells over Iran’s influence in ‘American religious institutions’ GOP reps demand to know if Biden administration has strategy to counter Iranian regime activities in US

August 1, 2023   

(Fox) Republicans in Congress have issued a tough letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warning about the influence of Iran’s terror ideology in at least four U.S.-based mosques and centers. The GOP letter, exclusively obtained […]

Interfaith

Conference in Baltimore features Islamist speakers with antisemitic histories Hatem Bazian, who was on a panel at the three-day event, said at a 2004 San Francisco rally: 'It’s about time that we have an intifada in this country.'

June 12, 2023   

(JNS) The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) concluded their three-day annual conference late last month at the Baltimore Convention Center. A number of activists and clerics with histories of antisemitism and anti-Israel statements were listed […]

Academics & Education

Muslim community waking up to ‘unholy alliance’ with Democratic Party amid battle over parental rights Muslims will be the swing voters in the 2024 presidential election, Asra Nomani predicted

June 8, 2023   

(Fox) Muslim parents are waking up to the “unholy alliance” their community forged with the Democratic Party after standing side by side with conservatives to fight for parental rights, said a Muslim journalist. “Parents everywhere, from the Muslim community to the Asian […]

Academics & Education

Dem Maryland official says Muslim children aligned with ‘white supremacists’ for opposing LGBTQ curriculum Islamic religious freedom advocate tells Fox News Digital he was 'stunned' by Democrat's comments

June 7, 2023   

(Fox) A Democratic member of a Maryland city council blasted Muslim children as on the side of “white supremacists” after they spoke out against sexuality discussions and materials in classrooms during a heated school board meeting Tuesday evening. “This issue has unfortunately […]

Government & Politics

US Muslim community congratulates Turkish President Erdogan on election victory Ankara’s envoy to Washington awarded for outstanding community services during Islamic Circle of North America convention

May 29, 2023   

(Anadolu) At a major Muslim American gathering, the Muslim community in the US congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his historic reelection to the nation’s presidency. Hasan Murat Mercan, Ankara’s ambassador to Washington, was invited to the stage on Sunday at […]

Government & Politics

NGOs call for rejection of IHRA’s anti-Semitism definition in US county A coalition of NGOs are calling for the rejection of a resolution in Montgomery County in Maryland that could make criticism of Israel part of a definition of anti-Semitism, raising wider concerns over free speech.

November 1, 2022   

(New Arab) On a rainy Monday evening at the Montgomery County Council in Maryland, located near Washington, DC, a group of NGOs held a press conference calling on the Council to reject the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, which would […]

Government & Politics

Maryland CAIR chapter opposes IHRA definition of antisemitism Montgomery County is Maryland's most populous region, encompassing the heavily Jewish town of Silver Spring as well as several heavily populated places in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area.

July 26, 2022   

(Jerusalem Post) The Maryland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on members of the Montgomery County Council on Sunday to oppose the county’s resolution to formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Montgomery County is […]

Academics & Education

US state Maryland gives Muslim students the legal right to wear hijab in sport The Inclusive Attire Act, which took effect earlier this month, gives legal protection to student athletes of all faiths who choose to dress modestly or wear their religious coverings while participating in sports.

July 8, 2022   

(New Arab) The US state of Maryland has passed a law that will protect the rights of hijab-wearing female athletes and others with faith-related head coverings to play sports, without concerns of exclusion. The bill, called the Inclusive Attire Act, which took […]

Academics & Education

Teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins threatened to fail pro-Israel students While the university has not issued a formal statement on the incident, Sunil Kumar, from the university’s provost office, said in an email to StandWithUs that it is 'aware of the incident.'

January 6, 2021   

(JNS) Anti-Semitism watchdog groups are raising alarm over a graduate student and teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins University who threatened to fail pro-Israel students, while also making disparaging remarks about Israelis and white people. “We find it alarming that a teaching assistant […]

Crime

‘We want our voices heard’: Muslims in Maryland showcase power of door-to-door lobbying Scores of Muslims from across Maryland converge on state capital and find some lawmakers willing to listen

February 12, 2020   

(Middle East Eye) The energy was palpable at Maryland’s House of Delegates late Monday, as members of the Muslim community hurried through the building’s hallways and knocked on doors, trying to lobby politicians on key bills and issues under consideration in the […]