Members of the Montgomery County’s Anti-Hate Task Force Tuesday evening heard from its Jewish cohort, the first of six groups to present their findings and recommendations.
“The daily news is a reminder of why we do this work,” said Council President Evan Glass, the leading force behind the task force.
Most recently, antisemitic graffiti that included the words “Club Aryan Excellent” and a swastika were painted below the Josiah Henson Parkway by Tildenwood Drive in North Bethesda and within the first two days of school, an anti-Semitic incident was reported at Montgomery County Public Schools.
The task force’s next meeting is Sept. 19. The Muslim cohort will make its report and recommendations then.
According to Tuesday’s virtual meeting, there were 109 anti-Semitic incidents reported in Maryland during 2022. Of those incidents, more than 50% occurred in Montgomery County, said Meredith Weisel, ADL regional director.
In 2021, there were only 55 incidents reported throughout the state, she said, adding that many more incidents occurred but were not reported.
Education is the recommended path forward, Weisel said. County staff and teachers should be better trained to recognize the problems of hate and bullying and what to do about it, she added.
She also recommended that the county urge private employers to do the same.
Paula Bienenfield, from the Montgomery Conty Jewish Parents Coalition, said the Jewish students she spoke with have been the subject of hate speech and bullying most of their school years, including a first grader who told Bienenfield that she was called a “dirty Jew” “starting as far back as first grade.”
Another student told her that a ninth grade English teacher “brought up how the Hebrews killed the Jews,” she said.
“The Jewish community is really fed up. I don’t think we are scared, and I don’t think we are terrified. We are very angry,” she told the task force members.
There are six cohorts in the anti-hate task force, representing the Jewish, Black/African American, LGBTQ+, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latino/Hispanic and Muslim communities.
“We are all in this together,” Glass said.
