The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the Biden administration’s “racist refusal” to evacuate or protect American citizens and residents in Lebanon under threat of attack under Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign using U.S. taxpayer-supplied weapons.
While many other countries are evacuating or assisting in the evacuation of their citizens, State Department representative Matthew Miller said in a Sept. 30 briefing: “There are still commercial options that are available. They are limited, of course. We have been in contact with American citizens. We have urged American citizens to fill out the intake form on our website to receive information. We’ve heard from a number of American citizens, and we are working with them to provide them updates about commercial flights that are available.”
Al Jazeera reports: “On Wednesday, the administration of President Joe Biden announced that it contracted its first flight to evacuate US citizens from Beirut to Istanbul, nine days after Israel started its offensive in Lebanon. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the flight carried 100 US citizens – a fraction of the nearly 6,000 Americans who have contacted the US embassy for information and help.”
SEE: ‘As if we don’t exist’: Under bombs in Lebanon, Americans feel abandoned
Countries such as Russia, Australia, Greece, and Spain have organized special evacuation flights for their citizens. Almost 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israeli attacks last year, including at least 127 children.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“While other nations organize evacuations for their citizens, Americans and U.S. residents in Lebanon are largely left to their own devices to protect themselves and their families under the Israeli government’s expanding attacks on civilians.
“Combined with the Biden administration’s feckless response to Israel’s murders of American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, its failure to evacuate or protect Americans in Lebanon appears to represent its latest racist refusal to view Arab-Americans and Muslims as equal in value to other Americans.”
Yesterday, CAIR condemned President Biden for enabling the murder of an American resident in an Israeli bombing attack in Lebanon.
Also yesterday, CAIR condemned the killing of 51 people, including infants, in an Israeli operation in Southern Gaza.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw, 202-716-6242, 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