Muslim civil rights group condemns Biden admin for sending 50,000+ tons of military equipment to Israel, arbitrary detention of Palestinian aid workers by Israeli forces
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned a call by a top Israeli official to violate international agreements and the sanctity of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
CAIR also today condemned the Biden administration for sending over 50,000 tons of military equipment since October 2023 and the Israeli government for kidnapping Palestinian aid workers.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said that if he could, he would build a synagogue on the Al Aqsa Mosque complex. “If I could do what I wanted, a synagogue would also be established on the Temple Mount,” Ben Gvir told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday morning. Far-right extremists in Israel have repeatedly called on the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be destroyed and replaced with a temple.
SEE: Israel’s Ben Gvir says he wants to build a synagogue in Al-Aqsa Mosque complex
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“The only real difference between Itamar Ben-Gvir and the other racist, genocidal far-right members of the Israeli government is that he wants to supplant Islam’s third-holiest site and wipe out the Palestinian people on a faster timetable than they do and insists on saying so out loud. The Biden administration must condemn the Israeli government’s threats to spark a religious war and force an end to its genocidal war on the people of Gaza.”
Human Rights Watch has reported that Israeli forces have arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers in Gaza since October 2023, deported them to detention facilities in Israel, and allegedly tortured and ill-treated them. The detention of healthcare workers in the context of the Israeli military’s repeated attacks on hospitals in Gaza has contributed to the catastrophic degradation of the besieged territory’s healthcare system.
SEE: Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured
Since October 7, the Biden administration has sent Israel over 50,000 tons of military equipment, both offensive and defensive.
SEE: US sends its 500th airlift of weapons, equipment to Israel
Over the weekend, CAIR said the Biden administration must speak out strongly to condemn the latest videotaped burning of copies of the Quran and destruction of mosques by Israeli soldiers in Gaza and end weapons transfers to the Israeli government to force an end to the genocide.
SEE: CAIR Says Israel’s Latest Quran Burnings Is a War on Islam that Biden Must Condemn
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CONTACT: 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