The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today renewed its call for the removal of a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council (Board of Trustees), Martin Oliner after a newly-surfaced video shows him stating “maybe we need to kill more civilians” in Gaza.
In a 2024 video reportedly taken at an event honoring Israel Minister of Science & Technology Ofir Akunis and posted online, Oliner states in part:
SEE: ‘Maybe we need to kill more civilians,’ speaker told gathering hosted by pro-Israel nonprofit in New York – Prism
“So maybe it’s up to us to actually kill civilians. Can a war be won without [Hebrew phrase in the Book of Esther referring to killing women and children]. How are we ever going to win this war. Take the lessons from America. Take the lessons from Dresden. Take the lessons from the firebombing that we did there. Take the lessons from America when they dropped atomic bombs on Japan. Those lessons are imperative…[W]e’re still being accused of genocide. But maybe we need to kill more civilians.”
CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell told Prism, which brought the video to light:
“It’s insane that anyone would say this out loud…It speaks to a deeper problem that goes beyond him…It is what many supporters of the Israeli government are encouraging and backing right now as we speak.”
“The fact that he felt comfortable calling for the killing of more Palestinian civilians…to an audience of pro-Israel advocates, including a representative of the Israeli government, tells you how deep the rot is in terms of hostility and racism towards Palestinians.”
Earlier this year, CAIR called for Oliner’s removal after he reportedly claimed all Palestinians in Gaza are not worthy of “any mercy” and that the “people of Gaza are collectively guilty” and ‘fundamentally evil.”
[NOTE: “The United States Holocaust Memorial Council was established by Congress in 1980 to lead the nation in commemorating the Holocaust and to raise private funds for and build the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.]
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@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