By Adam Pagnucco.
In the latest development in the continuing backlash against CASA’s remarks about Israel, all nine state senators who represent Montgomery County have signed a joint statement expressing their outrage. Most significantly, the statement hints at consequences for CASA’s government funding, an important part of its total revenues. This sentence stood out for me:
In light of CASA’s recent postings and statements, this might be an appropriate time to reevaluate the state’s mechanism for providing financial aid and support to our immigrant community.
A note about these senators. As a group, they have a real ability to impact CASA’s legislative agenda in Annapolis. Two chair standing committees, those being Will Smith (Judicial Proceedings) and Brian Feldman (Education, Energy and Environment). Two more are vice chairs – Jeff Waldstreicher (Judicial Proceedings) and Cheryl Kagan (Education, Energy and Environment). Two (Craig Zucker and Nancy King) are members of the Budget and Taxation Committee, which deals with state funding. Kagan, Zucker and Katie Fry Hester are on the General Assembly’s Joint Audit Committee, which is meaningful because I have been hearing the word “audit” a lot in the last two days.
And then there is Senator Ben Kramer, a ferocious defender of Israel, who said just last year: “I am a proud Jew, and I am an avowed Zionist, and I don’t take that lightly.”
The statement represents a remarkable break between an all-Democratic and pretty progressive group of senators and one of Maryland’s most influential organizations. It is reprinted below.
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We, the entire Montgomery County Senate Delegation, are deeply disappointed by the recent statements and social media postings by CASA de Maryland and its executive director, Gustavo Torres. The statements are hurtful, divisive, and antisemitic. It reflects a complete lack of understanding of the complex geopolitics of the Middle East, the indigenous roots of the Jewish people, and the long and painful history of antisemitism in its myriad forms.
Collectively and individually, we have worked in partnership with CASA to provide much-needed services to our immigrant communities here in Montgomery County and throughout Maryland. We have provided CASA with millions of taxpayer dollars intended to support our new Americans and help provide them with necessities and shelter. We have worked closely with CASA’s executive director to help those who have just arrived in our country to receive critical social services.
It is for these reasons that we are particularly hurt and dismayed to see the statements and the postings on the CASA social media sites.
We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with CASA to support Montgomery County’s values. Hamas represents the antithesis of those values. Like CASA, we support LGBTQ+ rights. Hamas executes LGBTQ+ residents. Like CASA, we support freedom of religion. Hamas opposes religious pluralism. Like CASA, we support women’s rights. Hamas subjugates women in every aspect of daily life. We support a free press and freedom of speech, both of which are strictly prohibited by Hamas, the democratically elected government of Gaza.
CASA’s statements overlook Hamas’s despicable efforts to slaughter its Jewish neighbors and the use of hundreds of millions dollars, in financial aid, to build weapons of war and dig hundreds of miles of tunnels for purposes of war, instead of building schools, hospitals and a meaningful economy for its people. We note specifically CASA’s inflammatory posting of a sign that reads “From the River to the Sea.” We understand this to denote a genocidal call for the erasure of Jews and the State of Israel.
When we say hate has no home here, we must mean it. We cannot and will not allow taxpayer money to subsidize hate speech. In light of CASA’s recent postings and statements, this might be an appropriate time to reevaluate the state’s mechanism for providing financial aid and support to our immigrant community. More specifically, we must ensure that public funds are not being used to promote antisemitism and Jewish hate.
We hope that this is a learning opportunity for CASA and that they focus on their mission of lifting all people up.
Benjamin Kramer
Ariana Kelly
Brian Feldman
Katie Fry Hester
Cheryl Kagan
Nancy King
William Smith
Jeff Waldstreicher
Craig Zucker
