Howard County Interfaith Advisory Council to hold listening session on war in Gaza

Feb. 6—By Sherry Greenfield — sgreenfield@baltsun.com

PUBLISHED:February 6, 2024 at 4:29 p.m.| UPDATED:February 6, 2024 at 5:23 p.m.

In an effort to tamp down anger and division caused by a failed Howard County resolution that called for a cease-fire in Gaza, the new Howard County Interfaith Advisory Council plans to host a listening session later this month to allow members of the public to share their views.

Hours after the Howard County Council voted against the resolution Monday night, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced that the newly formed Interfaith Advisory Council would meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Meadowbrook Athletic Complex at 5001 Meadowbrook Lane in Ellicott City.

"We know our community has been hurting since the attacks on innocent people on October 7th," Ball stated in a news release Monday night. "As we see increased pain, suffering, and turmoil in Palestine and Israel, we know many of our residents are also hurting right here at home. This is an opportunity for our residents to make their voices heard on this critical issue. We must do our part to call for peace now."

Rabbi Yanky Baron, of Chabad of Ellicott City, said Tuesday that he welcomes the listening session.

"It's a perfect forum," Baron said. "We need a space to talk to each other and air our feelings."

Ball signed an executive order Jan. 25 creating the Interfaith Advisory Council to help combat the increase in antisemitism and Islamophobia in the county as a result of the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. The 16-member council is charged with reviewing and providing recommendations on the best practices to address religious intolerance in the county.

The county executive is also inviting the public to provide input on a draft letter to President Joe Biden urging him to use his position to secure an immediate cease-fire.

"As our top United States officials continue efforts to broker peace in the Middle East, we strongly implore you to negotiate a bilateral cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and the release of all remaining hostages," Ball's letter states. "Now is the time to take bold actions to ensure all people across our globe are safe and supported. The ongoing suffering of the Palestinian and Israeli people has gone on long enough."

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Local News — Howard Council votes against resolution calling for cease-fire in Gaza

No public comment was allowed at Monday night's council meeting, and many in the overflow crowds that gathered at the George Howard Building in Ellicott City cried out and interrupted council members as they discussed the proposed resolution.

Council member Liz Walsh, a Democrat who represents District 1, introduced the resolution last week, asking for the Biden administration and congressional leaders in Maryland to facilitate an end to the Israel-Hamas war and to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The resolution urged elected officials to take "immediate action to use their position and influence" to end the humanitarian crisis in the region.

The resolution failed Monday, with only Walsh voting for it, and council members Deb Jung, David Yungmann and Opel Jones voting against it. Christiana Rigby did not attend the meeting.

Council Chair Jung, a Democrat who represents District 4, read a statement saying she believed a County Council resolution was "inappropriate for such an issue and will likely create unnecessary division in our community without a real possibility of advancing the prospects of peace."

Jung said her office had received more than 800 emails from people on both sides of the issue.

"We cannot order the federal government by council resolution to do anything," she said. "The County Council is not, and should not, be in the business of issuing opinions or directives on international conflicts. We lack the expertise and should focus on local government matters.

"We were elected to help oversee the Howard County government, not President Biden, Congress, or the State Department," she said.

Jones, a Democrat who represents District 2, said he thought long and hard about the issue and ultimately voted against the resolution because he wanted all sides of the issue represented in issuing a statement.

Walsh told the crowd that she was surprised by the controversy surrounding her resolution. She said the call for a cease-fire was not about religion, but about the sanctity of human life.

"I do not understand why this is controversial," she said. "All human lives are precious. ... I have to believe you value all lives the same."

Her comments drew loud jeers from those in the audience, who called for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

According to reports from The Associated Press, on Oct. 7, about 1,500 Hamas terrorists crossed the border into southern Israel and assaulted and killed at least 1,200 Israelis. More than 240 hostages were taken by Hamas that day, and the event is considered to be one of the deadliest terrorist attacks against Israel since the state's founding.

Some international leaders have called for a cease-fire in Gaza, but bombings have continued on the 25-mile strip along the Mediterranean Sea. The war has elicited protests around the world, calling for an end to the violence in the Gaza Strip, and the release of the remaining hostages.

Monday night saw protests by those on both sides of the issue in front of the George Howard Building. People of all ages came in support of the council resolution while waving Palestinian flags, holding protest signs, chanting slogans against Israel, and painting their hands red to indicate complicity in the war.

"I have family in Gaza," said Laila El-Haddad, a resident of Clarksville and a Palestinian who said she once lived in Gaza. "This is very much a local issue and a human rights issue."

El-Haddad, a mother of four children, an author and activist, said she had 90 family members killed during the war. El-Haddad said because Howard County residents pay taxes, the Israel-Gaza war is a local issue.

"We are funding this with our tax dollars," she said.

Others who gathered said though they also have concerns about the Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza, they want the immediate release of remaining Israeli hostages. They were angry that the proposed Howard resolution did not include any mention of releasing the hostages.

"I'm a Christian and Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East," Bunnie Riedel, of Columbia, said. "The County Council is not the [United Nations]. There are plenty of problems in this county, so why are they weighing in on this?"

Riedel pointed to the military response following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the military response by the United States.

"We responded and the entire world supported us," she said.

With many waving Israeli and American flags and holding laminated photos of the remaining hostages, there was a feeling among the crowd that the resolution was causing unnecessary division in the county.

"We need to take this opportunity to bring the community together," Courtney Carter, of Columbia, said.

Columbia resident Geoffrey Greene agreed.

"This is very divisive," he said. "The resolution has nothing to do with Howard County. This just exacerbates Jew hatred in Howard County."

Clarksville resident Lori Burman said she had recently returned from a volunteer trip to Israel, where she and others cooked meals for soldiers with the Israel Defense Forces, and picked oranges for farmers whose workers were fighting in Gaza.

"The Israeli people are so resilient," Burman said. "They're fighting for their lives, but when you talk to them, they are all upbeat. There is such patriotism in Israel. They're so resilient. I wanted to go to bear witness to what was going on."

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