Civil rights group calls on Biden administration to respect ruling and end support for the Gaza genocide
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/26/2024) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a preliminary ruling issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the U.N.’s principal judicial body, that declares South Africa’s charge of genocide against the Israeli government plausible, allows the case to proceed, and orders the Israeli government to take various measures to prevent genocidal acts and report back to the ICJ in one month.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR criticized the ICJ for not going further and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
CAIR also called on the Biden administration, which previously dismissed South Africa’s case as “meritless,” to apologize, accept the ruling, and stop providing support for the Netanyahu government’s genocidal attacks on the people of Gaza.
Despite this ruling, the court does not have the power to enforce it and it may take years to issue a final verdict. Recent interim decisions similar to this ruling have been handed down in cases involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya people.
Before the announcement of the decision, the U.S. State Department would not commit to accepting the ruling.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“The International Court of Justice ruling is an important first step to ending Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Biden administration must respect the court’s ruling, apologize for dismissing South Africa’s case as ‘meritless,’ and stop enabling the Netanyahu government’s genocide.
“By allowing South Africa’s charge of genocide to proceed, the ICJ has opened the door to some semblance of justice for the Palestinian people. However, the ICJ should have gone further by ordering a complete ceasefire.
“It is now incumbent on the nations of the world to take concrete action, including imposing sanctions, suspending ties and other steps, to stop the openly genocidal Israeli government and hold it to account for its crimes.
“The most important way to stop the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign is to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, followed by the pursuit of a just, lasting peace that ends the occupation.”
Awad noted that yesterday, CAIR said that the over 200 members of Congress who sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken denouncing South Africa, dismissing the nation as “Israel’s enemy,” and expressing their “disgust” at the well-substantiated genocide filing made against Israel at the ICJ), should be “ashamed.”
SEE: Members of Congress Who Attacked South Africa Should Be “Ashamed,” CAIR Says
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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