Maryland 2 Palestine

The group began organizing local direct action and teach-ins in 2021 and held several anti-Israel events in 2024 and 2025. ²

Background

Maryland 2 Palestine’s vision is a world in which Palestinians and “marginalized people are free from the shackles of colonialism, imperialism and state-sanctioned violence.” ²

The group affirms that the “liberation of Palestine” includes the “right of return” for all Palestinian refugees, which would allow Palestinians to reclaim territory within the internationally recognized borders of Israel. It also claims that Zionism was used to “illegitimately establish a racist, settler-colonial entity on indigenous Palestinian land via the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.” ²

Direct Action

In February 2025, Maryland 2 Palestine held “Haircuts for Palestine” at Richard Montgomery High School, from which it pledged to donate all revenue to Relief and Development’s Palestine Relief Fund and Helping Hand for Relief. ³ That month, the group also protested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C. and called for his arrest ⁴ and collaborated with Doctors Against Genocide and the Party for Socialism and Liberation ⁵ on a demonstration to resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). ⁵ Maryland 2 Palestine was also one of several groups protesting President Donald Trump’s January 2025 inauguration. ⁶

In September 2024, the group worked with the DMV chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Party for Socialism and Liberation in D.C. to stop traffic in Georgetown in order to protest Israeli attacks on Lebanon. At the end of the rally, attendees were encouraged to attend an October 5 protest at the White House. ⁷

Maryland 2 Palestine hosted a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the so-called “Nakba Day” in May 2024 ⁸ and joined a rally in Annapolis called “MD Youth Rally for a Free Palestine” along with Baltimore County Young Democrats in February 2024. ⁹

In January 2024, the group joined the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights and several other anti-Israel groups including Jewish Voice for Peace DC Metro, Dissenters DMV, and DMV Palestinian Youth Movement to protest at the Maryland statehouse to demand that money go to “community,” rather than “genocide.” ¹⁰ The group also organized a rally outside AIPAC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and stopping U.S. aid to Israel in March 2024. ¹¹

In November 2023, about a month after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, Maryland 2 Palestine coordinated a march in Washington, D.C. in concert with anti-Israel groups including American Muslim Alliance, the Palestinian Feminist Collective, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Al-Awda, the People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, National Students for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and Palestinian Youth Movement. ¹²

In 2022, Maryland 2 Palestine launched a campaign to prevent the Montgomery County, Maryland Council from adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The group claims to have slowed the legislation’s passage. ¹³

Maryland 2 Palestine claims to have been featured in the Qatar-controlled Al Jazeera and the Iran-run HispanTV outlets. ^{13 14 15}

Leadership

Alexandra Melinchok was co-chair of Maryland 2 Palestine in August 2022. ¹⁶