The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Biden administration to take “concrete action” after video surfaced showing Israeli soldiers deliberately shooting Palestinians desperately trying to collect air-dropped humanitarian aid in Gaza.
In exclusive footage obtained by Al Jazeera, Israeli soldiers appear to shoot at a number of people collecting aid in Northern Gaza, killing at least one of those people. Soldiers continued to shoot at the individual while he lay on the ground dead or dying. The video ends with the body being attacked by stray dogs.
Video: Israeli fire kills man while collecting aid
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“While the world is justifiably outraged at Israel’s targeted killing of Western humanitarian aid workers, there is silence when Palestinian men, women and children are slaughtered on a daily basis, with no accountability or investigations.
“Israel killed the Western aid workers in the same way that it has been killing Palestinian civilians. The world has rightfully demanded accountability and an independent investigation. Palestinian deaths deserve a similar response and pressure on Israel to stop the genocide.
“This monstrous targeting of people who simply wanted to feed their families, and whose starvation is being intentionally imposed by the far-right Israeli government – with our nation’s support – must lead to concrete action by the Biden administration. Mere rhetoric is not enough.
“This genocide must end, and the Palestinian people must have an unalterable path to freedom and dignity.”
Israel has already slaughtered more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Last night, CAIR said that President Biden needs to change his policy, not just his rhetoric, after a reported ultimatum to Israel’s far-right leader Netanyahu that U.S. support in the ongoing Gaza genocide depends on “immediate” steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
Also yesterday, CAIR said President Biden must act after a group of officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) warned that the Israeli-imposed and U.S.-backed starvation in Gaza is “unprecedented in modern history” and that the pace of hunger-related deaths will “accelerate in the weeks ahead.”
CAIR also condemned the torture that is reportedly resulting in the amputation of limbs of Palestinians held in Israeli detention centers and Israel’s reported use of AI software to carry out its mass slaughter in Gaza.
CAIR recently joined 80 advocacy Muslim, Palestinian, and allied organizations representing communities across the United States to send a letter to President Biden that objects to his recent decisions to both transfer more deadly weapons to the Israeli government and falsely certify that the Israeli government’s war on Gaza complies with U.S. law.
CLICK HERE: READ THE LETTER
END
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