The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced that it has sent an open letter to state leaders urging immediate action to end California’s complicity in the ongoing genocide and mass starvation in Gaza.
The letter, sent on Friday, July 25, by CAIR-CA Legislative and Government Affairs Director Oussama Mokeddem, outlines how Israeli military operations—enabled by U.S. weapons and diplomatic cover, and in many cases supported by California tax dollars and investments—have created a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with over 100 children already dead from starvation and famine rapidly spreading.
READ: CAIR-CA’s Open Letter to State Leaders
The letter calls on state leaders to:
- Publicly condemn Israel’s genocide, war crimes, and starvation campaign in Gaza.
- End state-level financial ties to firms complicit in these atrocities.
- Urge California’s congressional delegation to halt all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel.
- Demand a permanent ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access.
- Oppose attempts to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Citing statements from over 100 humanitarian organizations—including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, and Oxfam—the letter warns of worsening famine conditions and mass civilian deaths. It also documents reports of over 1,000 starving Palestinians being gunned down while trying to access food, referring to U.S.-backed “aid” sites as “open-air killing fields.”
“This is not a future threat. It is present. It is preventable. And it is accelerating,” the letter states. “Every state-level investment in Israeli bonds, and every political endorsement that turns a blind eye to atrocity makes our state complicit.”
Mokeddem added:
“As Californians, we cannot claim to uphold human rights while our tax dollars are entangled in a genocide. Our elected officials must have the courage to act, not only by condemning atrocities abroad, but by ending financial and political support for them here at home. State complicity in Gaza’s suffering is a moral and policy failure we must urgently correct.”
CAIR-CA is calling on all elected officials across the state to take immediate, concrete action.
“This is not just a matter of international affairs—it is a moral crisis that implicates every level of government,” the letter concludes. “Do not wait until history—or God Almighty—judges us.”
CAIR-CA is a chapter of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACTS: CAIR Greater Los Angeles Senior Communications Coordinator Madi Hameed, mmorse-hameed@cair.com; CAIR Sacramento Valley/Central California Communications Contact Tasneem Manjra, 916.441.6269, tmanjra@cair.com; CAIR San Diego Executive Director Tazheen Nizam, 760.201.7626, tnizam@cair.com; CAIR San Francisco Bay Area Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, 408.498.5779, ladam@cair.com