(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/13/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Biden administration to demand the Israeli government cancel its plans to expand illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The Israeli government told the Biden administration it intends to announce the planning and building of thousands of new housing units in the settlements in the occupied West Bank, several Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios. At a press briefing yesterday, White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby stated that U.S. policy is consistent in opposing any unilateral decisions to advance Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Many UN resolutions and prevailing international opinion hold that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights are a violation of international law, including UN Security Council resolutions in 1979, 1980, and 2016.
SEE: Israel to announce plans for thousands of new settlement units in West Bank
https://www.axios.com/2023/06/12/israel-west-bank-settlement-units-announcement-netanyahu
Permanent Apartheid in Palestine: This is why Israel wants to reactivate E1 Plan
US warns against Israeli settlement expansion after reports of new West Bank plans
https://news.yahoo.com/us-warns-against-israeli-settlement-202046132.html
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“The illegality of settlements being built on occupied Palestinian land has been established and affirmed by the international community numerous times. The Biden administration cannot simply stand by while more Palestinians are ethnically cleansed from their ancestral lands. The administration must demand the Israeli government cancel its plans to do so. The administration should cut the billions of taxpayer dollars in funding for Israel if they fail to comply.”
He noted that the United States sends billions in aid to Israel every year. The U.S. is estimated to have given over $130 billion in aid to Israel since its founding on Palestinian land.
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, [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]