(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/18/2024) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and its Chicago chapter (CAIR-Chicago) today welcomed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson statement recognizing that the Israeli government’s war on Gaza is “genocidal.”
In an interview with Mother Jones magazine ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday in Chicago, mayor Johnson said: “What’s happening right now is not only egregious, it is genocidal. We have to acknowledge and name it for what it is and have the moral courage to exercise our authority.”
Mayor Johnson’s statement comes as Israeli forces shot another Palestinian journalist and slaughtered more Palestinian civilians, including a mother and her six children, five of them quintuplets.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We welcome Chicago Mayor Johnson’s recognition of the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza, which the openly racist Netanyahu government has carried out for ten months with U.S. financial, diplomatic and military support. This genocide must end.”
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said:
“The acknowledgment of the horrendous abuses in Gaza is not politicking. Their denial is. Americans are incensed. We need more elected officials like Mayor Johnson who can put their humanity above political calculation, and honesty above blatant obfuscation. Anything less will be judged harshly by history.”
Yesterday, CAIR called on the Biden administration to force Israel to immediately end its genocidal attacks in Gaza to allow a polio vaccination campaign to be conducted after the first case of that disease was detected in a Palestinian child. According to medical personnel the poliovirus was found in a 10-month-old child in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.
[NOTE: In July, CAIR called on the Biden administration to take action to prevent the spread of polio in Gaza after the virus has been detected in wastewater after the sewage system was devasted by Israel’s ongoing U.S.-enabled genocide.]
Last week, CAIR responded to the death toll in Gaza rising to over 40,000 by asking President Biden “how many more” Palestinian civilians have to die before he takes action.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Israeli attacks, with many more buried under rubble and threatened by illness. The majority of these deaths have been women and children. Experts say the death toll may be “vastly underestimated.” The medical journal The Lancet reported that some 186,000 Palestinians may have died since Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Some 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, often multiple times.
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: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com; Maggie Slavin, Operations Manager of CAIR-Chicago, 815-590-3991, mslavin@cair.com; Hafsa Haider, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, hhaider@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@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