The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the nation, today condemned the anti-Palestinian provisions in the $1.2 trillion spending package signed by President Biden over the weekend.
SEE: Congress passes $1.2 trillion spending bill after short government shutdown
The spending package bars funding for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) through March 2025. It also cuts funding to the United Nations Human Rights Council unless the administration can certify that it is taking “significant steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item.”
UNRWA is a critical lifeline for many Palestinians, providing essential services such as food and medical aid. The suspension of this aid could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe, including the starvation of innocent Palestinian civilians. The bill does provide full funding for Israel’s annual security commitment of $3.3 billion.
SEE: Budget Deal Slashes U.S. funding for Palestinians’ U.N Lifeline
The legislation also eliminates funding for the UN Commission of Inquiry against Israel. This provision hinders the Palestinians’ ability to initiate an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation or actively support such an investigation that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Executive Director Edward Mitchell said:
“President Biden and many members of Congress should be ashamed for supporting legislation with openly racist, dehumanizing provisions aimed at starving Palestinians in Gaza and permanently silencing and subjugating the entire Palestinian population.
“By sending another three billion dollars to the Israeli government, cutting funding to UNWRA amid a famine caused by the Israeli government, and threatening to defund international bodies that address injustices against ‘the Palestinians,’ this legislation makes our nation even more complicit in the oppression and occupation of the Palestinian people.
“These callous measures continue our government’s pattern of dehumanizing the Palestinian people, contributing to anti-Palestinian violence both overseas and here at home.”
END
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