The Jewish Deaf Congress (JDC) is deeply concerned over two recent matters that raise serious questions about ethical integrity, neutrality, and inclusivity within the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and its affiliates:
- The NorCRID Annual Conference presentation scheduled for October 18, 2025, titled “Hearts Palestine – Gaza Genocides and the Call for True Access,” and
- The RID nomination video by Rosemary Wanis, featuring political symbolic representation through artifacts such as a keffiyeh and Palestinian flag,
While JDC supports open dialogue about interpreting in crisis and conflict contexts, the political framing of both incidents crosses professional and ethical boundaries. Presenting a one-sided narrative under a professional banner undermines the neutrality, respect, and inclusivity expected of all RID-affiliated organizations.
NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct: Ethical Concerns and Relevant Tenets
The NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct requires interpreters and RID representatives to uphold impartiality, respect for consumers and colleagues, and professionalism in both conduct and presentation. The following tenets appear relevant to the current concerns:
- Tenet 2.0 – Professionalism (2.1 and 2.5): Provide services without bias or the appearance of bias; refrain from inserting personal opinions into professional contexts.
- Tenet 3.0 – Conduct (3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7): Avoid conflicting roles; maintain unobtrusive and neutral professional presentation. Using RID-affiliated platforms to display political symbols or language violates this standard.
- Tenet 4.0 – Respect for Consumers (4.4): Professional space must remain inclusive for all, regardless of cultural or religious identity.
- Tenet 5.0 – Respect for Colleagues(5.1, 5.3): Civility and respect are essential; content that alienates any group undermines and threatens collegial trust.
- Tenet 6.0 – Business Practices (6.3, 6.6): Promote conditions conducive to effective communication and professional growth, not political division.
- Tenet 7.0 – Professional Development: Educational events should foster interpreting competence and ethical growth, not serve as platforms for political advocacy.
Together, NorCRID’s framing and Ms. Wanis’s imagery blurs the boundary between professional discourse, personal ideology and political advocacy, alienating Jewish and Deaf interpreters and eroding trust across the interpreting community.
Requested Actions
JDC respectfully calls upon RID’s National Board to:
- Publicly acknowledge that both instances raise legitimate ethical concerns under CPC.
- Direct NorCRID to amend or retract the conference promotional materials to remove politically divisive language
- Require Ms. Wanis to remove or revise her nomination video to eliminate political symbolism inconsistent with professional neutrality.
- Establish clear oversight and guidance ensuring all RID-affiliated events and materials uphold neutrality, inclusivity, and ethical integrity.
- Reaffirm RID’s commitment to safe, apolitical and respectful professional spaces..
This is not about personal views, it is accountability. The interpreting profession relies on ethical consistency and public trust. When RID platforms are used for political expression, the resulting harm reverberates across the interpreting field.
The Jewish Deaf Congress remains committed to inclusivity, respect, and ethical leadership, and urges RID to uphold these values through concrete action and transparency.
Respectfully,
The Jewish Deaf Congress Board