(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/2/22) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Biden administration to condemn and refuse to work with expected ministers from far-right, racist Israeli political parties expected to form a ruling coalition government under Benjamin Netanyahu.
It is widely reported that the far-right, racist political leader of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), Itamar Ben-Gvir – who contested Israeli’s most recent election in alliance with other ultranationalist political groups as the Religious Zionism party, now the third-largest party in the Israeli parliament – has demanded to be appointed Israel’s Security Minister.
SEE: Far-right Ben Gvir demands to be public security minister in next government | The Times of Israel
Five of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s most outrageous moments
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-itamar-ben-gvir-five-moments-most-outrageous
According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, Israel security forces under Netanyahu’s leadership as prime minster between 2009 and 2021 killed 449 Palestinians in the West Bank and 3088 in Gaza, including 801 minors and 342 women, and injuring thousands more.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a racist and a war criminal, and he would be even more dangerous surrounded by ministers who are somehow even more radical than he is. At the very least, the Biden administration and members of Congress should condemn this extremist alliance and refuse to collaborate with far right, racist politicians like Ben-Gvir and others who openly support apartheid, ethnic cleansing and even genocide.
“Now more than ever, the United States should stop writing blank checks to Israel’s increasingly radical governments and must take concrete action to end the occupation of Palestine.”
Profile on Israeli Far-Right, Racist Political Leader Itamar Ben-Gvir
As reported in Reuters, Ben-Gvir “was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement against Arabs and support for Kach, a group on the Israeli and U.S. terror blacklists.”
The Forward reports that in addition to being a “declared follower and admirer of the convicted terrorist Meir Kahane” that he once “praised (and dressed for Purim as) murderers like Baruch Goldstein, the perpetuator of the 1994 Hebron massacre of 29 Muslim Palestinian men praying in a mosque.”
SEE: Far-right extremism is the real winner of Israel’s elections – The Forward
Ben-Gvir who lives as an illegal settler in the Israeli occupied West Bank, advocates for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, the governing Palestinian authority in the West Bank, a move that would place Palestinians and their territory under direct Israeli control.
According to the far-right Jerusalem Post, Ben-Gvir also backs the adoption of a “Deportation Law” that would not apply to Jewish citizens and “will deport anyone who acts against the State of Israel or IDF soldiers” – presumably targeting Palestinian and African citizens.
The Times of Israel also reports that Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party “supports encouraging emigration of non-Jews from Israel and expelling Palestinians and Arab Israelis who refuse to declare loyalty to Israel and accept diminished status in an expanded Jewish state whose sovereignty extends throughout the West Bank.”
The Rise of the Religious Zionism Party Marks Israeli’s Further Embrace of Apartheid Policies
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, have all recently recognized that the Israeli government’s decades-long human rights abuses against the Palestinian people, including physical segregation and different laws based on race, constitute a system of apartheid.
Last week, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it will investigate charges of apartheid against the Israeli government. The commission released its second report two weeks ago, which urged the UN Security Council to end Israel’s “permanent occupation” and urged UN member states to prosecute Israeli officials. The commission’s three members said future reports will investigate apartheid by the Israeli government.
Today, CAIR welcomed the 20-congressional-member letter led by Congressman Don Beyer (D-CA) to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding Israel end its “discriminatory” treatment of Palestinian-Americans who often face severe entry restrictions or outright travel bans when attempting to enter Israel, including when visiting family members in the occupied West Bank.
The letter was publicly released in a tweet by Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-IL), who stated that “Israel has imposed discriminatory restrictions on people traveling to the Palestinian West Bank, a move that impacts families in my district, especially Palestinian Americans who will find it harder to see family. This is wrong and must end. Proud to join my colleagues on this.”
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, 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 Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com