The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned U.S. involvement or support for ongoing attacks on civilians in Iran and Lebanon, including the U.S.-Israeli bombing of an apartment building in Tehran that reportedly killed 40 people and Israel’s ethnic cleansing of southern Lebanon, which resulted in the murder of a Catholic priest and various other civilians.
U.S. and Israeli forces reportedly bombed a residential complex in eastern Tehran late Monday, killing about 40 people. The attack struck apartment blocks near Resalat Square, a densely populated area of the capital, the Iranian Red Crescent reported.
A Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest was killed in southern Lebanon when Israeli tanks fired on a house March 9, Catholic officials and media said. Father Pierre al-Rahi, also known by his French name Pierre el-Raï, had earlier refused, along with other priests, to obey an order by the Israeli military to evacuate the Christian village of Qlayaa, a Maronite village of some 8,000 inhabitants in the Marjayoun district, a few miles from the Israeli border.
SEE: Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest killed by Israeli tank fire in southern Lebanon – Catholic Review
In a statement, CAIR said:
“Every day, our government is using American taxpayer dollars to either directly commit war crimes in Iran or enable Israel’s war crimes in Iran and Lebanon. These crimes must end.
“Most Americans do not want the Trump administration to force members of the U.S. military to commit crimes against humanity at the behest of a foreign nation that couldn’t care less whether U.S. soldiers or civilians die in the process.
“The Israeli government kills priests for refusing to be ethnically cleansed from their homes, uses starvation as a weapon of war, and slaughters civilians at will. Americans do not want our taxpayer dollars to fund these atrocities.
“We call on all members of Congress to oppose any funding for these war crimes, and we call on members who opposed the War Powers Resolution to announce a change in their position.
He noted that yesterday, CAIR called on congressional leaders, especially Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, to explicitly oppose any bill that would provide funding for the illegal U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in the wake of the environmental disaster created in Tehran and the rising civilian death toll in Iran, Lebanon and other nations.
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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