Muslim civil rights and advocacy group says stopping Gaza genocide most important step Biden could take to reduce rising Islamophobia
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/12/2024) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today responded to the White House’s release of a National Strategy to Combat Islamophobia by calling President Biden a “mass murderer” of Muslims whose strategy is “too little, too late.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR today said that if President Biden truly cared about the safety of Muslims or reducing the threat of Islamophobia, he would make major changes to federal programs that perpetuate anti-Muslim discrimination, like the federal watchlist, and immediately stop enabling the biggest driver of Islamophobia: the US-enabled Israeli genocide in Gaza.
CAIR emphasized that the dehumanizing anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim rhetoric used to justify the genocide in Gaza and silence its critics in America has fueled the largest rise in anti-Muslim incidents ever recorded, including the brutal murder of six-year-old Wadea in Chicago.
SEE: Biden administration details plan to combat Islamophobia
In a statement, CAIR said:
“Although we and many American Muslims would normally welcome a national strategy to combat Islamophobia, the White House’s long-delayed document is too little, too late.
“The White House strategy lays out some positive recommendations related to anti-Muslim bigotry, but it has been released too late to make an impact, fails to promise any changes to federal programs that perpetuate anti-Muslim discrimination on a massive scale, such as the Orwellian federal watchlist, and fails to promise an end the most significant driver of anti-Muslim bigotry today: the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza.
“President Biden cannot credibly claim to care about Muslims or Islamophobia while simultaneously supporting the Israeli government’s destruction of mosques, desecration of Qurans, and mass murder of a predominantly Muslim population. By enabling Netanyahu’s war crimes, President Biden has sadly become a mass murderer of Muslims.
“At this late stage, forcing Netanyahu to end the genocide in Gaza is the best and only thing President Biden can do to reduce Islamophobia before he leaves office.”
While the White House’s new multi-agency national strategy to combat anti-Muslim bigotry would normally be a welcome step, its release just before the end of Biden’s term renders its future uncertain and it falls short of addressing the U.S. government’s own role in perpetuating Islamophobia both domestically and abroad. Last year, the administration released a similar National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism.
SEE: CAIR Visits White House for Meeting on Islamophobia, Raises Watchlist Concerns
In May 2023, CAIR participated in a special White House listening session on American Muslim domestic priorities, including concerns about Islamophobia. During the meeting, CAIR reiterated its long-standing objections to the unconstitutional and discriminatory federal watchlist and specifically called on the White House to fulfill President Biden’s campaign pledge to initiate a DHS review of the watchlist and no-fly list, as well as to improve the process for removing names.
However, since then, CAIR and the White House have severed public ties following public disagreements over the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering political, logistical, and military support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and a manufactured controversy over personal remarks clipped out of context from a CAIR leader’s speech.
From January to June 2024, CAIR documented 4,951 incoming bias complaints nationwide, a 69 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
SEE: New CAIR Data Shows Anti-Muslim, Anti-Palestinian Hate Remain Elevated in First Half of 2024
Earlier this year, CAIR’s national office released its 2024 civil rights report, which revealed the highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year history. Titled “Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate,” the report documented 8,061 complaints. Nearly half of all complaints received in 2023 were reported in the final three months of the year.
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 Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw, 202-716-6242, 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