Muslim civil rights and advocacy group also welcomes UN human rights official’s call for arms embargo on Israeli government
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today strongly condemned American mercenaries accused of shooting at starving Palestinians in Gaza, called on the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute those responsible, and called on the Trump administration to end U.S. participation in the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has reportedly resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of Palestinians seeking food on a nearly daily basis.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“We strongly condemn the American mercenaries accused of—and in one case, reportedly caught on camera—opening fire on starving Palestinians seeking food aid in Gaza. Like their counterparts in the Israeli military, these mercenaries are complicit in genocide, and the Justice Department should prosecute them as such.
“We call on the Trump administration to immediately end our nation’s involvement in so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and we call on the administration to ban American contractors from participating in this fraudulent, genocidal project.”
According to the Associated Press:
“Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.
“They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians. One contractor said bullets were fired in all directions — in the air, into the ground and at times toward the Palestinians, recalling at least one instance where he thought someone had been hit.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR also welcomed a call by the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories calling for an arms embargo on Israel and for corporations worldwide to be held accountable for profiting from genocide in Gaza.
The report’s summary states in part: “This report investigates the corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory. While political leaders and governments shirk their obligations, far too many corporate entities have profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide. The complicity exposed by this report is just the tip of the iceberg; ending it will not happen without holding the private sector accountable, including its executives.”
Earlier today, CAIR sent a response letter to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon renewing its call on the DOJ to reverse its position and exercise its clear statutory and treaty-based authority to investigate and prosecute Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers responsible for the unlawful killings of U.S. citizens in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.
CLICK HERE: READ CAIR’S LETTER TO THE DOJ
Yesterday, CAIR reiterated its call for U.S. and international medical organizations to condemn the Gaza genocide after Israeli forces murdered Marwan al-Sultan, the director of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City, and his family.
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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