(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/13/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Biden administration to launch a transparent investigation of a violent assault Israeli soldiers perpetrated against a Palestinian-American from Tennessee who filmed them abusing other Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
A family member of the Palestinian-American shared a video showing a number of Israeli soldiers committing the assault in a public street Tuesday in the village of Turmusayya. As Israeli soldiers forcibly march him to a police vehicle, he screams that they are breaking his arm and the soldiers throw him to the ground and begin to beat him. Video shows one soldier stomping on his head as other soldiers hold him down.
Video: Tennessee Palestinian-American Assaulted by Israeli Soldiers
Video (2): Tennessee Palestinian-American Assaulted by Israeli Soldiers
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who is of Palestinian heritage, said:
“It would be unacceptable for our nation to tolerate the violent assault of any Palestinians by soldiers of a foreign nation funded by American taxpayer dollars. It would be even worse if we do nothing to protect Palestinian-Americans who experience such violence on camera. Both the FBI and the State Department should conduct a transparent investigation and call for concrete actions to protect American citizens.”
Awad said CAIR has also received a report of another the wounding of another Palestinian-American from California by Israeli fire.
He noted that last month, CAIR called on the U.S. Department of State to take concrete actions to protect Palestinian-American under attack by Israeli settlers.
Earlier this week, CAIR welcomed a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine that documents and calls for the end of Israel’s “open-air” imprisonment of Palestinians in the areas it occupies.
CAIR recently condemned an Israeli settler’s desecration of a Quran, Islam’s holy text, during attacks on Palestinian civilians.
Also last month, CAIR called on the U.S. Department of State to take concrete actions to protect Palestinian-American under attack by Israeli settlers and called on the Biden administration to take action after the Israeli government approved plans to expedite the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
CAIR has called on the Biden administration to demand “real justice” after an announcement that Israeli soldiers will not face criminal prosecution for the death of an elderly Palestinian-American man who they dragged from a car, bound and left unresponsive on the ground overnight after apparently suffering a heart attack.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR has previously called on the Biden administration to stand up to the new Israeli government composed of openly racist and genocidal far-right politicians.
Last year, CAIR welcomed an investigation by a UN commission of inquiry into the Israeli government’s system of apartheid against Palestinians.
In an open letter, five former European ministers labeled Israel’s policies against Palestinians as “the crime of apartheid.” Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Presbyterian Church USA have labeled Israel an apartheid state. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing also recognized that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians.
A group of Israeli law professors says changes introduced by the current far-right Israeli government “validate the claim that Israel practices apartheid.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, 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 Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com