The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the torture of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli forces after a report published by the Israeli human rights group B’tselem described acts of violence, humiliation and abuse.
The report – based on testimonies from 25 Palestinians – describes physical and psychological abuse, including beatings, whipping, having cigarettes put out on their bodies, blows to their genitals, injection of an unidentified substance, prolonged binding and blindfolding, threats, insults and more.
That abuse was reportedly directed at men, women, teenagers and children, all of whom had been selected arbitrarily as they went about their daily lives. B’Tselem said none of the 25 people had been suspected of any offence or prosecuted and were released immediately after being assaulted.
SEE: Unleashed: Abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in the center of Hebron | B’Tselem
In a statement, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said:
“Each day, the genocidal Israeli government – led by an indicted war criminal and supported by the Biden administration – seems to outdo itself in its brutality and barbarism. The nations of the world can no longer allow this rogue state to continue perpetrating crimes against humanity.
“President Biden should read this report, and the countless other reports of Israeli war crimes, as he continues his complicity with genocide by sending U.S. taxpayer-funded bombs to Israel to kill and maim Palestinians.”
SEE: Revenge, fire and destruction: A year of Israeli soldiers’ videos from Gaza – Washington Post
Hooper added that CAIR has repeatedly condemned Israeli torture of Palestinian detainees.
He noted that yesterday, CAIR said President Biden is responsible for enabling the Israeli genocide in Gaza that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says, “now has the highest number of children amputees per capita anywhere in the world – many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anesthesia.
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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