The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to demand that Israeli authorities immediately end the ongoing siege of Palestinian-American Loui Ridi’s home in the illegally-occupied West Bank village of Qusra and ensure the safety and freedom of movement of his family.
Ridi, a Palestinian-American from Toledo, Ohio, returned to the West Bank this week after watching for days through security cameras as Israeli settlers surrounded his home. His brother and teenage nephew had remained inside the property to protect it. The siege has lasted for more than a week, with illegal Israeli settlers surrounding several Palestinian homes and preventing residents from freely leaving.
The case has drawn condemnation as settler violence and Israeli ethnic cleansing in the West Bank continue to escalate.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Ambassador Huckabee must immediately demand an end to this siege and insist that Israeli occupation authorities protect this Palestinian-American family and their property from illegal settler terrorists. No American citizen should have to fly halfway around the world and risk his safety simply to defend his own home from armed illegal settlers backed by military forces that rely on our nation’s support.
“Our nation cannot credibly claim to defend the rights and security of Americans while ignoring what is happening to a Palestinian-American citizen and his family in the illegally-occupied West Bank. Ambassador Huckabee should use his office to demand immediate protection for Mr. Ridi and his family, restoration of their access to water and electricity, freedom of movement, and an end to the settler siege.
“American citizenship should mean that the United States stands up when an American is threatened, regardless of his ethnicity, religion or family background.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]