Posted on 09/04/25
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 4, 2025 - As the U.S. Department of Education investigates a complaint by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) surrounding allegations of antisemitism in Baltimore City Schools, community members spoke out against the complaint during Wednesday night's School Board meeting.
"We must denounce antisemitism full stop. At the same time, I am deeply disturbed by the ADL complaint against city schools," said Khadim Baluch, an educator with the school system.
In the complaint, the ADL outlines allegations of students making hateful comments toward Jewish students and a teacher directing Nazi salutes. The teacher in question, Dr. Patrick Oray, previously admitted that, while he made the gesture, it was misunderstood. In a letter, City Schools said, "Dr. Oray will not be in the classroom for the start of the 2025-26 school year."
"I think someone misunderstood that there's a difference between a Roman salute and a Nazi salute," Oray said. "And when I ended the lesson, it ended with the point that before it was 'Heil Hitler', it was 'Hail Caesar,' and the parties involved took offense to that."
In the complaint, the ADL suggested several remedies for City Schools officials to implement, including the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism, which the U.S. Department of State has used since 2010.
According to the definition, manifestations of antisemitism "might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic."
"This approach puts City Schools on a list of institutions being pressured to yield to political agendas and curb free speech. This doesn't protect Jewish students or me as a Jewish staff member here, it weaponizes our identity," said Elianna Clayton, who works in the district’s Office of Family Engagement. .
“This conflation is deeply dangerous. It risks silencing conversations about justice and global solidarity," Baluch said.
Instead, community members who spoke out suggested the school system use a different definition, the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism which says criticism of Israel is not necessarily antisemitic.
"So the definition of that the ADL is proposing, this IHRA definition, is widely accepted worldwide, widely accepted here in the United States, the State Department has been using it for nearly two decades now. I think 35 states have adopted it as their definition of antisemitism. It is kind of the seen as the standard," said Howard Libit, the Executive Director of the Baltimore Jewish Council.
"I believe both the IHRA definition and this other definition that parents are pushing for, they do draw a distinction between legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and antisemitic criticism of the State of Israel. I think the IHRA definition is a tougher definition," he added.
"It's a carefully crafted definition that acknowledges it's okay to criticize the actions of the Israeli government," he continued to explain. "It's just not okay to to use antisemitic tropes, or to hold Israel to a standard that you wouldn't hold any other country. That's where you cross the line into antisemitism."
In a statement, a City Schools spokesperson said, "As we stated in our original response, Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) remains committed to fostering a culture of tolerance, respect, and civility. Bullying and harassment have no place in our schools, and we unequivocally reject antisemitism and hatred in any form. City Schools is fully cooperating with the USDOE and cannot comment further on the investigation."
The ADL did not response to our request for comment.
"Fighting about definitions and what definition we're going to use is a distraction from the real issue, which is stamping out hate," Libit said.