Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization also calls on Congress to address new European report on Israeli prison guards’ sexual violence against Palestinian hostages
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the decision by the Italian government to suspend the automatic renewal of its defense cooperation agreement with Israel.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Italy is suspending its defense agreement with Israel, which includes cooperation on military equipment and technology research. “In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel,” said Meloni.
CAIR also called on Congress to take immediate action to stop enabling Israel’s following its ongoing attacks on civilians in Lebanon and Gaza, and the release of a new report detailing allegations of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities.
The report, titled “Another genocide behind walls” and published by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, compiles testimonies from detainees who describe severe abuses, including sexual assault, degrading treatment, and other violations of human rights.
It states in part: “This report details widespread patterns of sexual violence against detainees in the Gaza Strip, serving as a tool to break both individual and collective will and inflict serious physical and psychological harm. The documented practices involved direct sexual assault, assaults with instruments, and torture focused on the genitals.”
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“The reported suspension of the automatic renewal of Italy’s defense cooperation with Israel is a welcome and necessary step that reflects growing global recognition of the urgent need to address Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity.
“Our government must not remain complicit as the Netanyahu regime commits war crimes with American taxpayer dollars and even oversees the systematic rape of Palestinian hostages, as documented in the deeply disturbing findings of the new Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor report. Sexual violence and torture against detainees are grave violations of international law and basic human dignity, and the Israeli government has been openly enabling these crimes.
“We call on Congress to take concrete action to ensure that U.S. policies and aid no longer enable these horrific crimes.”
CAIR recently called for members of Congress to listen to the American people after another poll shows increasingly negative views of Israel and its indicted war criminal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to a new Pew Research Center survey, 60 percent of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of Israel and 59 percent have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Majorities of adults under 50 rate Israel and Netanyahu negatively.
In February, CAIR similarly called on Congress to listen to the American people instead of anti-Palestinian lobby groups after a Gallup poll showed that most Americans sympathize with Palestinians over Israel in the wake of the Gaza 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