The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on “people and institutions of conscience” across America to refuse to engage with Itamar Ben-Gvir, a convicted terrorist supporter and far-right Israeli government official who has called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
In a meeting with GOP and business leaders on at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir claimed that Republicans back his call for bombing food and humanitarian aid supplies in Gaza.
For years, Ben-Gvir infamously kept a photo in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli-American who massacred 29 Muslim worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994. Ben-Gvir also threatened Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin weeks before his assassination by an Israeli extremist.
SEE: He’s one of Israel’s worst extremists. So why is Yale legitimizing him? – The Forward
In a statement, CAIR said:
“It is unconscionable that Itamar Ben-Gvir, an open racist and convicted supporter of terrorism, parades around America while the Trump administration imprisons college students who dared to peacefully criticize the Israeli government’s war crimes.
“We call on people and institutions of conscience to refuse to engage with Ben-Gvir, a sociopath who should be sitting in a cell at The Hague, not visiting Mar-a-Lago or Yale University.”
CAIR previously demanded that the Biden administration condemn Ben Gvir’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
SEE: CAIR Demands Biden Admin Condemn Top Israeli Official’s Call for Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza
Washington, D.C., based CAIR has also condemned Ben Gvir’s past calls to violate international agreements and the sanctity of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
SEE: CAIR Condemns Top Israeli Official’s Latest Threat Against Al Aqsa Compound
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@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