Photo credit: Paul Bersebach | The Orange County Register
(LOS ANGELES, CA – 1/24/2024) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today demanded that Rep. Michelle Steel issue a public apology for refusing to meet with pro-Palestinian constituents and subsequently making false allegations that they vandalized her district office.
A group of five women reported to CAIR-LA that they visited Rep. Steel’s office on Thursday, Jan. 18, to discuss with the congresswoman the urgent need to end the life-threatening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. After arriving at the office, they knocked and rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered. The group stated that all previous attempts to schedule a meeting with Rep. Steel via email and phone also went unanswered.
After waiting outside Rep. Steel’s office for over an hour to speak to someone from her staff, the building manager reportedly approached the group and asked them to leave. The group stated that before they left, they attached posters stating, “Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire Now” to Rep. Steel’s office door using removable tape.
On Jan. 19. Rep. Steel sent an email newsletter calling the group “pro-Hamas protesters” who “vandalized my district office” and reaffirming her solidarity with Israel and its ongoing violence in Gaza.
The women involved state that they did not express any sentiment other than support for an end to the indiscriminate bombing and military onslaught in Gaza. Conflating Palestinian solidarity with Hamas and terrorism contributes to the dehumanization of the entire Palestinian population and attempts to justify the deaths of over 25,000 Palestinian civilians, including over 10,000 children.
The Cypress Police Department did not file a vandalism incident report, and no damage or destruction was reported to have been caused by the group’s actions.
In a statement CAIR-LA Policy Manager Basha Jamil said:
“Michelle Steel is a duly elected congressional representative, and as such, it is her responsibility to respond to the concerns of her constituents. Her office’s repeated refusal to accept meeting requests and her disregard for constituents at her door is a dereliction of duty and an affront to democracy.
“We are deeply concerned about her racist statement that calls Muslim and Arab constituents urging her to support a ceasefire in Gaza ‘pro-Hamas.’ With anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hate on the rise, her dehumanizing rhetoric and use of Islamophobic tropes are especially shameful. We hope the congresswoman will retract her statement and immediately issue a public apology for her harmful words.”
CAIR-LA sent a letter to Rep. Steel addressing the false allegations in her statement and demanding that she:
- Issue a full, public apology and retract her biased and harmful statement.
- Personally meet with Palestinian constituents to talk about the ongoing massacre in Gaza.
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Digital Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com