The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called for the expulsion from the U.S. of Itamar Ben-Gvir, a convicted terrorist supporter and far-right Israeli government official, after he allegedly directed a member of his security detail to harass a woman wearing a keffiyeh while visiting Capitol Hill to participate in today’s U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations’ (USCMO) 10th Annual National Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Ben-Gvir and his security guards later crossed paths with students and members of the Maryland delegation and CAIR national staff, who called him a “war criminal” while he screamed at them and attempted to push through his security guards to approach them. Ben-Gvir later entered the office of a member of Congress.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“We strongly condemn Itamar Ben-Gvir and his security detail for their attempts to intimidate a Palestinian-American woman on Capitol Hill simply because she was wearing an ancient symbol of Palestinian culture. Ben-Gvir is a racist, a war criminal and a coward who should be in The Hague, not wandering the halls of Congress and harassing Americans.
“He and his far-right government have caused the death and injury of more than 52,000 Palestinians in Gaza – mostly women and children – and has forcibly starved and ethnically cleansed almost the entire population.
“We call on members of Congress to refuse to engage with him, and we call on the United States to expel him. It makes no sense for this war criminal to have free rein to harass Americans while college students who peacefully protested his war crimes are sitting in immigration jails.”
Sabrene Odeh, community legal advocate with CAIR-Washington, was wearing a keffiyeh and standing in the hallway of the Rayburn Building when Ben-Gvir approached with a group of aides and security guards. According to Odeh and a witness, CAIR-Washington communications director Katie Walker, Ben-Gvir looked at Odeh and then motioned for his security guard to take notice of her. The guard then walked fast directly towards Odeh as if he was going to physically assault her, forcing her to step back and hit the wall. The guard then passed inches from Odeh.
Walker added, “I thought he was going to hit her or grab her keffiyeh.”
In a statement, Sabrene Odeh said:
“When visiting Palestine, I’ve been around Israeli soldiers, but it was different to see a war criminal walking in our halls of Congress. If Itamar Ben-Gvir and his thugs think they can intimidate Americans visiting Congress, they are mistaken. This is the United States, not Israeli-occupied territory. Approaching and attempting to intimidate me or anyone else for wearing a sign of Palestinian culture is a racist act of harassment that should be unacceptable in our nation.”
Last week, CAIR called on “people and institutions of conscience” across America to refuse to engage with Ben-Gvir, who has called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
In a meeting with GOP and business leaders on at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Ben-Gvir claimed that Republicans back his call for bombing food and humanitarian aid supplies in Gaza.
For years, Ben-Gvir infamously kept a photo in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli-American who massacred 29 Muslim worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994. Ben-Gvir also threatened Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin weeks before his assassination by an Israeli extremist.
SEE: He’s one of Israel’s worst extremists. So why is Yale legitimizing him? – The Forward
CAIR previously demanded that the Biden administration condemn Ben Gvir’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
SEE: CAIR Demands Biden Admin Condemn Top Israeli Official’s Call for Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza
Washington, D.C., based CAIR has also condemned Ben Gvir’s past calls to violate international agreements and the sanctity of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
SEE: CAIR Condemns Top Israeli Official’s Latest Threat Against Al Aqsa Compound
Over the weekend, CAIR called on the New York Police Department (NYPD) to pursue hate crime charges against members of a pro-Israel mob gathered for Ben-Gvir’s visit to that city and seen in a video posted online chasing and attacking a woman they thought was an Arab-American while shouting slurs like “death to Arabs” and making threats of rape.
SEE: Police investigate after pro-Israel counter-protesters assault two women in NYC – USA Today
Video: MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin Reports CAIR’s Call for Hate Crime Probe of NY Anti-Arab Mob Attack
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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