The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today sent a letter to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R), Majority Leader John Thune (R), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D), and to every member of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The letter urges congressional support for imposing an arms embargo on Israel following its latest “double tap” bombing of a Gaza hospital, which killed 20 people, including four health workers and five journalists working for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and Middle East Eye.
While CAIR recognizes that Democratic minority leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer continue to vote in favor of arming Israel, even as a majority of Senate Democrats now oppose future arms sales, the momentum in Congress is unmistakably shifting. CAIR’s open call on lawmakers is aimed at accelerating this realignment, pressing Congress to finally break with decades of unconditional support for Israel’s wars and human rights abuses. At the same time, CAIR is urging more Republicans to join this growing chorus, moving beyond what many now describe as an “Israel First” foreign policy and toward an America that prioritizes justice, accountability, and the defense of human life over weapons sales and partisan loyalty.
CLICK HERE: READ CAIR’S LETTER
CAIR’s letter describes yesterday’s incident as a deliberate “double tap” attack in which Israel bombed the hospital, waited for rescue workers and reporters to arrive, and then bombed the hospital again. CAIR warned congressional leaders that these attacks are not accidents or acts of self-defense, but part of a systematic genocide carried out with U.S.-supplied weapons and political protection.
“Israel is hunting these reporters because reporters are hunting for the truth, and killing doctors because doctors are saving lives. This is not an accident. This is not self-defense. It is genocide, and it is being carried out with U.S.-funded bombs and U.S. political protection,” wrote CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw in the letter.
CAIR noted that Israel has killed nearly 200 journalists in Gaza over the past two years, and that Israel’s own intelligence database admits 83 percent of those killed are civilians, including more than 62,000 men, women, and children.
“Congress cannot claim to stand for freedom, democracy, or human rights while continuing to arm this slaughter,” McCaw wrote. “Every bomb shipped to Israel is another nail in the coffin of civilians in Gaza. History will not excuse silence. The world will remember whether Congress chose to stop genocide—or to arm it.”
The letter calls on Congress to:
- Express support for a U.S. arms embargo on the Israeli government and pledge to vote against all current and future weapons transfers.
- Publicly recognize that Israel’s war on the people of Gaza constitutes a genocide and call for its immediate and permanent end.
- Call for U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state.
CAIR is calling on all members of Congress to act with urgency and conscience by rejecting further arms sales, ending unconditional support for Israel’s genocidal campaign, and standing on the side of human rights and international law. Silence is complicity—now is the moment for Congress to choose justice over genocide.
CAIR is calling on all members of Congress to act with urgency and conscience by rejecting further arms sales, ending unconditional support for Israel’s genocidal campaign, and standing on the side of human rights and international law. Silence is complicity—now is the moment for Congress to choose justice over genocide.
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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