Civil rights and advocacy group reiterates call for Gaza ceasefire after Israel bombs water reservoir
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/6/2023) – 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 release Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi and end the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank by government-backed settlers. CAIR also condemned the Israeli bombing of a Gaza water reservoir and reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire.
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, best known for confronting Israeli soldiers and opposing illegal Israeli settlements, has been kidnapped by Israeli security forces. The Israeli government said Tamimi was detained in connection with a post they say she made inciting violence. Tamimi’s mother said she did not make the post nor own the account from which the post was made.
SEE: Ahed Tamimi, Viral Palestinian Activist, Detained in Israeli Raid
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ahed-tamimi-viral-palestinian-activist-detained-in-israeli-raid
Ahed Tamimi: Palestinian activist detained in West Bank crackdown
https://news.yahoo.com/ahed-tamimi-palestinian-activist-detained-142004372.html
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“If prominent Palestinian figures like Ahed Tamimi and her father are not safe from the Israeli government’s escalating attacks in the West Bank, no Palestinian is safe. Benjamin Netanyahu’s openly racist, far-right ministers are completely out of control. The Biden administration must call for the immediate release of Ahed Tamimi and demand an end to the Israeli government’s escalating attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.”
Mitchell also condemned the Israeli bombing of a water reservoir in Gaza. He noted that the death toll in Gaza has reportedly surpassed 10,000.
“When the Israeli government’s top leaders declared that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza, justified cutting off water, electricity and other basic necessities because Palestinians are ‘human animals,’ embraced an ancient biblical verse about the mass slaughter of an entire city from animals to infants, demanded a million residents of northern Gaza leave their homes or face death, and announced that the aim of the bombing in Gaza was destruction rather than accuracy, they admitted their intent to commit genocide.
“Destroying the water supply, cutting off electricity, cutting off fuel – these are measures designed to kill or force out the people of Gaza. This barbarism must end. We again call on our government to demand an immediate ceasefire and end its support for the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign.”
Over the weekend, CAIR said the far-right Israeli government’s destruction of Al-Azhar University in Gaza, another massacre of civilians in a refugee camp and the deadly bombing of a U.N. facility housing refugees are further proof that the international community must act to stop Israel’s “genocidal campaign” targeting the Palestinian people.
SEE: CAIR Says Destruction of Gaza University, Deadly Attacks on U.N. Facilities and Refugee Camp Shows International Community Must Act to Stop Israeli Government’s ‘Genocidal Campaign’
CAIR condemned a repeat Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, which left an unknown number of people killed and injured, and said it is “running out of words” to describe the American Muslim community’s disappointment with the Biden administration’s refusal to demand a ceasefire.
CAIR called on President Biden to “stop the madness” after Israeli forces massacred more than 100 Palestinians in bombings of the same camp, tortured naked Palestinian prisoners on camera in the West Bank, forced a blindfolded captive to shout “long live Israel,” and used a tank to blow up a fleeing civilian vehicle in northern Gaza.
CAIR recently said it is “unacceptable” for the Biden administration to continue refusing to seek a ceasefire in Gaza despite the fact that many American travelers and hostages are under Israeli bombardment that has already killed more than 8,000, including thousands of children.
CAIR previously called Israeli government’s indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza “genocide” after the death toll of Palestinians topped 5,000.
CAIR also said U.S. officials will be complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza unless they intervene after the Israeli government announced that any Palestinian civilians who refuse to leave their homes in north Gaza could be identified as accomplices with a terrorist organization, and presumably targeted for killing by Israeli forces.
[NOTE: More than 88,000 Americans have used CAIR’s action alert to contact their members of Congress and call for an end to the violence and the renewal of U.S.-led efforts to end the occupation. SEE: Urge Your Members of Congress to Address Root Cause of Mideast Violence (cair.com) ]
BACKGROUNDER:
CAIR condemned a deadly Israeli airstrike targeting the Greek Orthodox Church campus in Gaza that killed 17 people.
Israel’s far-right defense minister has said that Israel is fighting “human animals” and that the entire Gaza population would be treated accordingly through a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip that block all supplies of electricity, food and fuel. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres he is “deeply distressed” by that blockade.
According to the Geneva Convention, states must allow the free passage of medical supplies, food, and other relief supplies for the benefit of a civilian population.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court states that it a war crime to: “Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, includin[sic] impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions.”
Collective punishment is also prohibited by Article 33 of the Geneva Conventions, which states: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”
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, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-999-8292, 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