Muslim civil rights group says latest strikes in Iraq and Syria show ‘the total failure’ of Biden’s Mideast policy
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/2/2024) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said President Biden should end the far-right Israeli government’s genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza instead of waging war across the Middle East.
CAIR says the today’s bombing campaign in response to the recent killing of three U.S. military personnel in Jordan shows the “the total failure of the president’s Middle East policy.”
In a statement following the multiple U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Instead of waging war across the Middle East, the Biden administration should demand an end to the far-right Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza, which is acknowledged by the International Court of Justice, a U.S. federal court, government officials in this nation and Europe, and by millions of ordinary people worldwide.
“These latest strikes in Iraq and Syria are just further evidence of the total failure of the president’s Middle East policy. The three respected American servicemembers who were killed last week, the dozens who were injured, and their families here at home should not have become victims of this unnecessary cycle of escalating violence.
“By ignoring the Israeli government’s years of escalating human rights abuses, sidelining Palestinian rights in favor of more Trump-era arms deals, maintaining U.S. troops in Syria, Iraq and other places where they are not welcome without congressional approval, refusing to reenter the Iranian nuclear deal, and enabling the Israeli government’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Biden’s misguided policies set the stage for the chaos we are seeing today.
“President Biden should change course to protect both American soldiers and people of the region from more violence. In the meantime, the administration officials whose bad advice has led our nation to this disaster, starting with Brett McGurk, should resign in shame. Justice and freedom for the Palestinian people – not more bombs – is what can build a more peaceful future for the region.”
He said that earlier today, CAIR welcomed a declaration by a federal court in California that Israel’s on Gaza “plausibly” amounts to genocide, despite dismissing a case calling for an end to military support for Israel as being outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Awad added that yesterday, CAIR condemned a newly-revealed policy of the far-right Israeli government to carry out its ethnic cleansing of Gaza by burning unoccupied Palestinian homes from which residents have been forced to flee.
He noted that CAIR recently called on President Biden to personally condemn an Israeli massacre of Palestinian civilians in Gaza who were waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City.
In December, CAIR called Israel’s massacre of at least 70 people in a strike on Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp and murdered a number of pregnant women.
Also in December, CAIR calls for a United Nations investigation of allegations that Israeli forces in Gaza carried our summary executions of unarmed Palestinian men in front of their family members.
Last week, CAIR welcomed a preliminary ruling by the ICJ, the UN’s principal judicial body, that declares South Africa’s charge of genocide against the Israeli government plausible.
Earlier this week, CAIR condemned the Biden administration’s “morally depraved and glaringly inconsistent” decision to engage in collective punishment against Palestinians by cutting funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in response to unsubstantiated and suspiciously timed allegations made by the Israeli government.
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