Muslim civil rights group condemns Israeli killing of UK-based aid workers, discovery of dozens of bodies in Gaza City neighborhood
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today again questioned the Biden administration’s silence on the latest “Israeli war crimes of the day,” including Israeli forces reportedly using attack dogs to maul a man with Down syndrome in Gaza and then leaving him to die.
Family members of the 24-year-old man say they were hiding in their home in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood when it was stormed by Israeli troops, who first sent in their dogs, which attacked the man with Down syndrome. The rest of the family was forced to leave the home at gunpoint, while the mauled man was taken to another room. After Israeli troops left the area, the family went back to their home where they found the man’s decomposing body “with worms eating his face.”
CAIR also condemned the Israeli killing of aid workers from UK-based Al-Khair Foundation who were reportedly targeted while they were preparing to distribute aid in Khan Younis, and the discovery of dozens of bodies found in one neighborhood. Reports show bodies left in the streets after being killed by Israeli snipers and left to die. The death toll includes many children.
Israel has slaughtered almost 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. Other estimates put the total death toll at 186,000.
In a statement, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said:
“It seems there is no war crime or act of brutality that Israeli forces can commit that is sufficient to bring forth even a mild statement of rebuke by the Biden administration, which continues to support and enable Israel’s genocide, mass destruction, forced starvation, and ethnic cleansing. The majority of Americans who demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza will remember the Biden administration’s actions – and lack of action – during this genocide.”
Yesterday, CAIR supported a call by more than 60 media and civil society organizations – coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists – demanding that Israel to give journalists independent access to Gaza.
CAIR’s support for media access to Gaza came as The Guardian reports that Israel is using munitions designed to maximize casualties, resulting in the massive number of deaths women and children.
Earlier this week, CAIR condemned a reported decision by the Biden administration to send Israel the 500-pound bombs for its genocide in Gaza that had previously been held back.
Also this week, CAIR questioned the Biden administration’s “silence” about daily Israeli war crimes, torture of prisoners, ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and massacres.
CAIR also condemned the latest Israeli massacre at a school in Gaza in which dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced people outside a school in Gaza.
CAIR called for action by the Biden administration after United Nations rights experts accused Israel of carrying out a “targeted starvation campaign” in Gaza.
CAIR also condemned the reported Israeli killings of a father and grandfather by running them over with a tank during in Gaza, the killing of 17 members of a Palestinian family – including 14 women and children – and the horrific condition of a prisoner released from Israeli detention.
CAIR said a letter published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet estimating that some 186,000 may have died since Israel’s invasion of Gaza once again proves that a genocide is occurring. CAIR also called on the Biden administration to address new reports that Israeli soldiers are being permitted to kill civilians and destroy homes at will, without rules of engagement.
On Sunday, CAIR called on the Biden administration to address new reports of Israeli rape and torture of Palestinian prisoners and the alleged summary execution of detainees.
On Saturday, CAIR condemned what it called the latest “Israeli war crimes of the day,” including a new massacre at a school in Gaza, the killing of journalists and former detainees, and the forced displacement of almost the entire population of Gaza.
Earlier this month, CAIR called on the Biden administration to take action following new allegations of Israeli torture of Palestinian detainees.
On Friday, CAIR expressed horror in response to viral footage of a young Palestinian girl in Rafah struggling to survive after an Israeli attack blew her jaw off.
CAIR also condemned South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham for racist remarks he made about Palestinians on the Fourth of July.
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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