The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Trump administration to clarify its stance on the creation of a Palestinian state – which has been U.S. policy since 1993 – after Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said it is no longer a goal.
SEE: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Questions Policy on Palestinian State – New York Times
CAIR also welcomed an announcement by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK of sanctions on two extremist Israeli government ministers for repeatedly “inciting violence against Palestinians.” Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will be banned from travel to those nations and will have their assets frozen.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Ambassador Huckabee replied, “I don’t think so,” when asked whether a Palestinian state on its historic land is still a policy goal of the United States. Huckabee also reportedly stated: “Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it.” He also said it should be up to “Muslim countries” to provide land for a Palestinian state on their territory.
Huckabee has previously questioned Palestinian identity, saying there is “no such thing as a Palestinian.”
Reuters is reporting that the Trump administration is even discouraging governments from attending a U.N. conference next week on a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
The vast majority of the world’s nations support statehood for the Palestinian people.
The New York Times reports: “Asked about Mr. Huckabee’s remarks, a State Department spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, told reporters, ‘I think he certainly speaks for himself,’ and added: ‘When it comes to American policy and certainly where the president stands, I’d suggest you call the White House.’”
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“We ask the Trump administration to clarify whether these comments by Ambassador Huckabee, seeming to reverse decades of American policy in the region, are his personal views or the new stance of the administration. Is it now our nation’s policy that Palestinians are the only people on earth who do not deserve to live in a sovereign state with full rights and human dignity? Our government’s complicity with Israel’s genocide is currently denying life and freedom to Palestinians. Will it also deny them these rights in perpetuity?”
Israel has slaughtered more than 55,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its Gaza genocide. The government of indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu has forcibly displaced almost the entire population of Gaza and is waging a campaign of mass destruction and forced starvation designed – as repeatedly stated by government officials – to ethnically-cleanse the population.
Last week, CAIR condemned the latest Israeli massacre of starving Palestinians who were seeking food for their families in Gaza.
CAIR also recently called on the Trump administration to shut down the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation after Israeli forces reportedly killed 27 starving Palestinians at an aid distribution site in Rafah.
Earlier this month, CAIR condemned so-called Israeli aid concentration sites in Gaza as really “killing zones” after Israel slaughtered least 31 people and wounded more than 150.
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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