The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today sent a letter to Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) condemning her recently publicized meeting with Israeli leader anti-Arab racist and wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu as his government bombed and starved civilians in Gaza, including at a U.N. school shelter.
CLICK HERE: READ CAIR’S LETTER TO SENATOR JACKY ROSEN
Senator Rosen’s May 27 meeting with Netanyahu took place just hours after the Israeli military carried out the assassination of two Red Cross workers and bombed a school shelter in Gaza, killing 36 displaced civilians, including 18 children. During the same visit, members of Netanyahu’s cabinet stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque under armed protection and harassed Palestinian worshippers.
A new poll released last week by Data for Progress and Zeteo found that 71 percent of likely Democratic voters believe the United States should end arms transfers to Israel until it halts attacks on civilians in Gaza, supports Palestinian rights, and commits to a long-term peace process. Only 21 percent support continuing military aid, revealing a 50-point margin of opposition to the position embraced by Senator Rosen during her visit.
Netanyahu, who leads a government of anti-Arab racists, is currently the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.
In the letter, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw wrote in part:
On behalf of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest American Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, I write to express our profound disappointment over your recently publicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu following its investigation into Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza. Shaking hands with a sitting head of government wanted by the ICC, and publicly celebrating that meeting on social media, was not only deeply troubling but a betrayal of your Muslim and Palestinian constituents in Nevada.
That meeting took place just hours after the Israeli military assassinated two Red Cross workers and bombed a school shelter in Gaza, killing at least 36 displaced civilians, including 18 children.
Among those affected was five-year-old Ward Al-Sheikh, whose small frame was filmed silhouetted against the flames following the bombing of the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School in Gaza City. Thankfully, Ward survived. However, her mother, five siblings, and many children around her age, did not. The image of her amid the devastation has shocked the conscience of the world and laid bare the unrelenting horror of Israel’s U.S.-backed assault on Gaza.
While you were touring Israel, members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet also stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque under armed protection, harassed Palestinian worshippers, and desecrated one of Islam’s holiest sites, an act condemned by the international community. That moment of profound violation for Palestinian Muslims coincided with your visit, yet you chose to meet with the very leader enabling such acts.
Senator Rosen, your long-standing political alignment with hardline pro-occupation, now pro genocide advocates, has become a source of serious moral concern. The Netanyahu government has openly declared its intent to permanently occupy Gaza and erase the Palestinian presence. Senior ministers have called for Gaza to be “completely destroyed.” This is not a security operation, it is a campaign of forced displacement and annihilation.
It is time for you to confront the moral consequences of your choices. CAIR urges you to reverse course and stand on the side of international law and human rights by:
• Supporting congressional resolutions that condemn the mass killing of civilians and uphold international law
• Enforcing U.S. laws prohibiting weapons transfers to governments obstructing humanitarian aid or committing war crimes
• Supporting the reauthorization of U.S. funding to UNRWA to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza
Your Nevada Muslim constituents, and all Nevadans, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or of any background, who oppose genocide and support human rights, deserve representation that reflects their values, not complicity in atrocity.
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Separately, CAIR yesterday sent a letter to every U.S. Senate office urging immediate action to end the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza. That letter was prompted by the now-iconic image of five-year-old Ward al-Sheikh, who was filmed crying out for her family as flames engulfed the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School in Gaza City, moments after an Israeli airstrike killed at least 36 displaced Palestinians sheltering there, including 18 children.
CAIR continues to call on Congress, the White House, and the international community to end U.S. complicity in Israel’s atrocities and take urgent steps to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
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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