(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/23/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today extended condolences to the victims of a shooting at a Kurdish cultural center and cafe in Paris that took the lives of three people and wounded three others.
A gunman opened fire on a Kurdish cultural center and nearby Kurdish cafe in central Paris today. Prosecutors said they were looking into a possible racist motive for the attack.
SEE: Paris shooting suspect had history of racist violence, prosecutor says
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We extend our condolences to the families of the victims killed in what appears to be a racist terrorist attack on Kurdish Cultural Center in France. This violence is completely unacceptable, as is the racist, xenophobic and anti-Muslim rhetoric that contributes to such violence.
“If the French government truly cares about countering the bigotry reportedly behind this attack, it will stop embracing bigoted policies, like shutting down the human rights groups that work to counter racism and Islamophobia in France.”
He noted that last year, CAIR called on President Joe Biden to condemn the French government’s latest act of state sanctioned Islamophobic discrimination – by responding to the French Council of Ministers’ forced closure of the last major French Muslim civil rights organization combatting Islamophobia.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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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 Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]