Concord City Councilors’ Email Accounts Bombarded After ‘Nakba Day’ Calendar Controversy

CONCORD, NH — The controversy over the city of Concord observing what some believe is an antisemitic, anti-Israel holiday on its Diversity & Inclusion Calendar has sparked outrage — with city councilors and the mayor being bombarded by emails in the past 48 hours.

The issue arose two weeks ago after NH Journal, a Patch news partner, received several tips from Jewish readers in New Hampshire that Nakba Day was included in the city’s online holiday calendar. On the calendar, the city posted that May 15 was the observance of “the Nakba, or Catastrophe, during which Zionist forces in 1948 expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people from their homelands. During the expulsion, hundreds of villages were attacked and destroyed and 15,000 Palestinians were killed.”

While some see the remembrance as pro-Palestinian, with Palestinians being driven from their land, it can be viewed by others as antisemitic since protests often feature references to the elimination of Israel, the Jewish state.

Michael Graham, the editor of the online site that covers news and politics in New Hampshire, emailed the mayor and city councilors requesting comment but reported all declined to respond. Not long after reaching out to the mayor and councilors, Graham wrote the description of Nakba Day was changed to an “Annual day of commemoration for Palestinians.” Days after Patch republished the story, the entire section was removed.

Some councilors, as well as Mayor Byron Champlin, denied receiving the emails from Graham. However, Graham submitted screenshots showing he sent the email to councilors.

During the past 48 hours, Champlin and some councilors have confirmed they have been bombarded by emails.

The emails were from Concord residents, Granite Staters, and other prominent Jewish figures around the country, including several rabbis. According to a sampling by Patch, some of the emails were respectful, raising concerns and requesting an explanation for the inclusion. Others were distraught and furious. One woman, in her subject line, called councilors “you dumb Islamic-rape-loving Nazis,” according to a screenshot sent to Patch.

One councilor, Michele Horne of Ward 2, posted a note on Facebook suggesting constituents contact her by instant message instead of email.

“I can’t (possibly) sift through the thousands of emails I’m getting for actual constituent emails,” she wrote.

Another councilor said they had received around 1,500 emails.

Champlin said it was hundreds, and none were personalized but, instead, were form emails.

“I think it’s unfortunate that a well-coordinated campaign outside of Concord has basically flooded our inboxes with essentially the same email,” he said. “I’m sure they are impassioned. But the only variation is the subject line that they write themselves. The rest is uniform language.”

Champlin said on Dec. 19, the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire contacted the city and asked if there were ways to change the language.

“The city said, ‘Sure,’ but then we never heard back from them,” he said.

Champlin called the email campaign “an overreaction to this incident” while agreeing the inclusion of Nakba Day was antisemitic. He said he and councilors took racism and discrimination seriously. Champlin added the information on the Diversity & Inclusion Calendar had been on the city’s website for about two years and had been taken from the United Nations calendar but the United States or other nations did not approve those entries.

It “should have never made it on our calendar,” he said. “That has now been corrected.”

According to other officials, similar information is also on the Lebanon city website.

When asked if any action would be taken to resolve the issue with the email campaign organizers, Champlin said he was not sure “what response the group that is behind this deluge of emails is looking for.”

On Friday afternoon, Champlin said the city would respond sometime during the weekend.

Around 7:30 p.m., Stefanie Breton, the public information officer for the city of Concord, issued a statement echoing some of the comments made by the mayor to Patch. The statement said the federation’s executive director “noted a few questions and concerns regarding the listing of Nabka Day.” The city said the calendar was developed from online sources and could be amended should an alternative definition be submitted.

“While the city has not heard anything further from this organization, the listing was amended on Dec. 23, 2024, and further removed from the calendar on December 30, 2024,” the statement said.

The statement also confirmed the calendar had been on the city’s website “for a couple of years” to recognize occasions worldwide.

“The inclusion of this listing was a grave oversight, and we are very sorry that members of our community felt targeted, as this was never the intention,” the statement said. “The city of Concord does not support antisemitism or racism and is currently working on building systemic equity infrastructure within the organization.”

After Breton released a statement, Amanda Grady Sexton, an at-large city councilor, posted a note on Facebook saying she was “appalled” by the entire situation, adding there was “no denying that this is a blatantly anti-Semitic observance and hate has no place in the city of Concord.” She said councilors did not vote on the calendar and she was unaware of its existence on the city website.

“However,” Grady Sexton stated, “as a representative of the city, I personally apologize for this entirely unacceptable event, and I am deeply concerned about the message it sent to our Jewish community in Concord.”

Grady Sexton said anyone could call her to discuss the issue further or accept a verbal apology personally.

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