The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned an organized campaign of terror targeting Palestinian olive farmers in the occupied West Bank carried out by illegal Israeli settlers.
Israeli settlers organised a campaign to terrorise Palestinian farmers and obstruct their olive harvest near an illegal settlement south of Jerusalem on Monday, following a call circulated in settler WhatsApp groups urging extremists to prevent farmers from reaching their land. Under the banner “Stop the Harvest”, the poster called on settlers to gather at 6:15am on Monday, ahead of the Palestinians’ anticipated arrival at 6:30am. Alongside its appeal to “stop them”, it instructed participants to bring at least two litres of water, sunscreen, hats and Israeli flags.
Footage from Monday morning showed a group of settlers attempting to prevent Palestinians from accessing agricultural land. Settlers could be seen arguing with Israeli soldiers, as well as journalists and activists who had gathered in response to the call-out.
SEE: Israeli settlers mobilise to terrorise Palestinian olive harvest
In a statement, CAIR said:
“With the open support of the Israeli government, extremist settlers are waging a campaign of terror to strip away from the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank their means of living. The Israeli apartheid government and the settler terrorists it enables no longer even bother offering a false justification for their crimes; they are utterly brazen in their oppression. We call on all members of Congress to condemn these atrocities and support an immediate end to U.S. support of them.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]