The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the Israeli occupation’s new threat to exterminate any and all human life that remains in Gaza City.
Israel today ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City, stating that anyone who remained would be considered a “terrorist,” therefore approved to be killed, even civilians. Defense Minister Israel Katz said: “Those who remain in Gaza will be (considered) terrorists and terror supporters.”
Some 400,000 Palestinians been ethnically-cleansed from Gaza City by Israeli forces since last month, but hundreds of thousands remain, unable or unwilling to leave.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We strongly condemn the Israeli defense minister’s declaration that the cowardly war criminals of his regime will treat everyone unable or unwilling to leave their homes in Gaza City as a ‘terrorist.’ Threatening to kill every man, woman and child who remains in Gaza City constitutes a clear violation of international law and another chilling indication of genocidal intent. The world must not stand by in silence.
“Our government must immediately and unequivocally condemn this clear statement to commit genocide and take action to prevent further Israeli crimes against humanity. We again call on the Trump administration to end all military aid to Israel and force Netanyahu to accept a real, immediate and permanent ceasefire deal before the Israeli government completes its genocide.”
Yesterday, CAIR welcomed a ruling by a federal judge that government officials unconstitutionally violated the free speech rights of pro-Palestinian students as they sought to deport international students and scholars, including Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University’s Rumeysa Ozturk, for expressing pro-Palestinian, anti-genocide views.
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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