Group sent letter condemning her false claims about Israeli airstrikes and urging a vote to block U.S. weapons; Slotkin ultimately refused to vote
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), the state’s leading Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today criticized U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) for her recent public remarks during a Breaking Points interview in which she refused to acknowledge Israel’s war crimes and forced starvation in Gaza as genocide and falsely claimed that Israel was no longer using heavy weapons.
Slotkin said during the interview: “Do I think it is ethnic cleansing, which is what I think of when I think of genocide? I don’t know if it meets that definition.” She also asserted that the “military part of the conflict is now over” — despite daily Israeli airstrikes that continue to kill between 80 and 100 Palestinians, including women and children, at refugee camps and food distribution sites.
In response to those remarks, CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid sent a letter to Senator Slotkin on July 30, just hours before the Senate voted on two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval — S.J.Res.34 and S.J.Res.41 — introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders to block offensive U.S. weapons sales to the Israeli government. Slotkin ultimately refused to vote on either measure.
In the letter, CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid wrote in part:
“…we are deeply concerned by your recent remarks on Breaking Points, where you failed to acknowledge that the Israeli government is committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza, and incorrectly claimed that Israel is now focused only on forced starvation, not using heavy weapons to attack Palestinians.”
“You cannot credibly denounce the humanitarian impact while continuing to vote for the means of its execution.”
The letter cited genocide determinations by Israeli human rights organizations B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, as well as warnings from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the U.N. Secretary-General. It also condemned the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for turning food lines into killing zones.
“Senator Slotkin had a clear opportunity to match her words with action and oppose further U.S. complicity in genocide,” said Walid. “Instead, she stood aside and allowed the bombs and bullets to keep flowing. That is a profound failure of leadership and accountability.”
CAIR-MI continues to call on Michigan’s elected officials to recognize the reality of genocide, end all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, and stand firmly on the side of human rights and international law.
CONTACT:
Imam Dawud Walid, Executive Director, CAIR-MI, 313-312-9904, dwalid@cair.com