(WASHINGTON, D.C, 9/22/22) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest American Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on all Democratic offices in the U.S. House of Representatives to “not to engage in dishonest, Islamophobic attacks on Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in response to her commonsense observation that supporting apartheid overseas is incompatible with democratic values here at home.”
SEE: FACT CHECK: REP. RASHIDA TLAIB SAID PROGRESSIVES MUST OPPOSE ISRAELI APARTHEID
Over the past several days Democratic offices, including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Haley Stevens (D-MI), and Juan Vargas (D-CA), among others, have mischaracterized and gone after Rep. Tlaib for stating “that among progressives, it has become clear that you cannot claim to hold progressive values, yet back Israel’s apartheid government.”
Rep. Tlaib’s remarks were made during an online seminar held by Americans for Justice in Palestine Action and co-sponsored by American Muslims for Palestine.
In an email sent today to all Democratic offices in the U.S. House of Representatives, CAIR stated in part:
“On behalf of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, we are calling on all Democratic offices in the U.S. House of Representatives not to engage in dishonest, Islamophobic attacks on Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in response to her commonsense observation that supporting apartheid overseas is incompatible with democratic values here at home.
“Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, have all recently recognized that the Israeli government’s decades-long human rights abuses against the Palestinian people, including physical segregation and different laws based on race, constitute a system of apartheid.
“Just a few weeks ago, the Israeli government announced it would not launch a criminal investigation into the Israeli military sniper who deliberately shot and killed American journalist and citizen Shireen Abu Akleh. The only reason for ignoring this murder, which was caught on camera, is that this American citizen was a Palestinian.
“Yet instead of calling on the Israeli government to uphold human rights, several House Democrats have spent the past week engaging in bad-faith attacks against the only Palestinian-American Muslim woman in Congress, simply because she reminded her colleagues that apartheid as a system of governance will forever remain incompatible with democratic values. The claim that she said something anti-Semitic is a blatant and dangerous lie. Just as it is not Islamophobic to say that you cannot be ‘progressive’ while backing Saudi Arabia’s authoritarian government or Iran’s theocratic government, it is not bigoted to say that you cannot be ‘progressive’ while backing Israel’s apartheid government.
“This is not the first-time members of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives have leaped to the worst possible interpretation of what one of their Muslim colleagues said. This is simply Islamophobic. The fact that this scenario has occurred with such frequency over the past several years points to the need for Democrats in Congress to address the issue of Islamophobia within their own ranks. The marginalization and silencing of elected Muslims and Arabs who speak the truth to their lived experiences is discriminatory and incompatible with democratic values.
“We hope your offices will address these important issues and demand that all countries, including our purported allies, uphold human rights.”
In March, CAIR called on Republican congressional leaders – including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy – to strongly condemn Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for her repeated anti-Muslim, racist and antisemitic statements, and targeted attacks on Muslim members of Congress Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Tlaib. CAIR also called on McCarthy to reverse his pledge to put Greene back on committees should Republicans win control of the U.S. House.
Last December, CAIR joined dozens of American Muslim groups in calling on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer calling for the censure of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and her removal from House Committee assignments following her repeated Islamophobic rhetorical attacks and falsehoods targeting Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
In June 2021, CAIR condemned a dozen House Democrats for joining far-right voices in smearing Rep. Omar after she criticized human rights violations that our government and other actors have committed in the Middle East.
During that time, CAIR also called for the rejection of the anti-Black and Islamophobic resolution that was introduced by House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to remove Rep. Omar from her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee for challenging the establishment and criticizing human rights violations that our government and other actors have committed in the Middle East.
In April 2021, condemned a now-deleted Islamophobic tweet by Congressman Greg Murphy (R-NC) invoking the 9/11 terror attacks and targeting Rep. Omar.
In 2019, the Dallas chapter of CAIR called on people of conscience, including members of Congress, to stand in solidarity with Imam Omar Suleiman and to reject a smear campaign launched against the imam by Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian groups in the wake of his May 9, 2019, opening prayer in Congress. Representative Lee Zeldin (R-NY) was among the far-right politicians leading the charge against Imam Suleiman.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com