Board of Education
The local Israeli lobby developed a voters guide asking candidates to demonstrate fealty to the IHRA definition, the weaponized definition of antisemitism that conflates criticism of Israel as being antisemitic.
None of the candidates rejected this framework. So while, there are not options, this page provides an overview of how Israel’s genocide has been reflected in MCPS’ policies and practices.
Montgomery County as an outlier
Montgomery County is an outlier in this broader battle over weaponized definitions of antisemitism:
We were the first nonconservative community to openly adopt the IHRA definition.
MCPS teachers were offered a training by the Israeli American Council, a right-wing organization that was started by Sheldon Adelson (Trump’s “sugar daddy”). The IAC was founded because Adelson felt AIPAC was too conciliatory. The IAC considers the statement “Palestine is occupied” as a trope.
MCPS has had a list of banned words developed by the Israeli Lobby which included “genocide.”
MCPS was one of three K-12 school systems that were brought before the Republican Congressional hearing on antisemitism to ensure that we comply with the IHRA definition. read here
So what to do?
Since there are currently no options of candidates who will stand against the IHRA definition, consider getting educated and joining organizations that are pushing to get the Israeli Lobby out of the school system. These include:
