Group wants Israeli national anthem removed from Maryland county's middle school music curriculum

Kiersten Hacker, The Baltimore Sun on Apr 25, 2025

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BALTIMORE — The Maryland Office of the Council on American Islamic Relations released a statement on Friday demanding that the Howard County Public School System stop using a music book at Dunloggin Middle School that requires students to learn or perform the Israeli national anthem.

The statement came after parents and students protesting the killings of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war raised concerns, the organization said in a news release.

The book referred to in the organization’s demands is Book 2 of “Essential Elements for Strings.” Sheet music for the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah,” which translates to “The Hope,” is in the book.

In a letter sent to Superintendent Bill Barnes and Dunloggin Middle School’s Principal Antoinette Roberson, CAIR called for the district to no longer use any content or text in its curriculum that incorporates the Israeli national anthem, “out of respect for students from diverse backgrounds” and those impacted by the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.

“Teaching students in the United States to perform the national anthem of a foreign country, particularly one whose government is currently under investigation by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, is not only inappropriate, but also traumatic for many students,” Zainab Chaudry, CAIR’s Maryland director, said in a news release.

Learning the anthem “undermines” the environment of inclusivity the school system strives to create, Chaudry said, especially when students have family members or loved ones in Gaza directly impacted by the war.

“CAIR believes that your school can achieve its instructional goals without having to subject students to additional distress and trauma,” a portion of its letter included in the news release states.

The organization said in the letter that some students have felt “silenced, erased, marginalized and deeply uncomfortable” by the school system.

ACLU Maryland sent a letter to Barnes and the principal of River Hill High School in June 2024, saying that Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian students were censored for seven months and demanded that the school protect their First Amendment rights.

Students with the school’s Muslim Students Association and Arab Students Association met with school administrators several times to organize a walkout as protests against the war in Gaza erupted at schools nationwide. It was decided that the students could hold a walkout as long as they refrained from saying words such as “Palestine”, “Gaza” or “siege.” The students’ experiences made them feel “utterly silenced,” the letter said.

About seven months later, in January 2025, the school system entered a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights after an investigation of alleged antisemitic harassment. Through the office’s investigation, it was found that the district was notified of at least 28 instances of shared ancestry discrimination against Jewish students at 16 schools in the last two school years.

The OCR investigation included walkouts at seven high schools during the 2023-2024 school year. The schools were contacted by about 30 people and groups voicing concerns and fears about actions and language that would cause a hostile environment before, during and after the walkouts, according to a letter sent by the OCR to Barnes.

CAIR is also calling for students not to be asked to learn or perform national anthems of other countries with governments that have been charged by or are under investigation by the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, the release said.

The school system confirmed Friday that a response to the organization’s letter is anticipated after its administration and General Counsel have reviewed it.

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