The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today urged all Americans to use its click-and-send action alert to call on members of Congress to boycott or protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress on July 24 due to his:
- Openly racist views.
- Genocidal war crimes.
- Disrespect for the United States.
- Opposition to a Palestinian state.
TAKE ACTION: URGE CONGRESS TO BOYCOTT OR PROTEST WAR CRIMINAL NETANYAHU’S SPEECH TO CONGRESS
In a statement, CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw said:
“We encourage all Americans to urge their members of Congress to boycott or protest Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 speech to Congress. The only speech the war criminal Netanyahu should ever give outside of Israel is testimony at The Hague.
“Any member of Congress who stands to applaud an openly racist, anti-American, genocidal butcher like Netanyahu would become a cheerleader for his crimes.
“This war criminal should have never been invited to address Congress, and if he does show up, the only moral response is to either boycott or protest his speech.”
McCaw thanked former House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for her words opposing Netanyahu’s speech and urged her to clarify if she would boycott the speech as well.
CAIR San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) Executive Director Zahra Billoo added:
“We vehemently condemn the decision to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress as it legitimizes his egregious human rights violations and war crimes. This invitation underscores the Biden administration’s complicity in these atrocities and Congress’ willingness to condone such actions.
“We commend those members of Congress who have announced that they won’t attend, including Rep. Ro Khanna, for their principled stance. Their decision to stand against injustice sets a powerful example, and we urge all members of Congress to follow their lead and unequivocally boycott Netanyahu’s address.”
Remind your U.S. House representatives and your senators that Netanyahu is a racist, a corrupt politician and a genocidal war criminal whose government has spent eight months massacring thousands of innocent people and spent years beforehand oppressing millions of Palestinians and undermining American presidents, including President Obama.
CAIR previously called on members of Congress to reject any attempt by House Speaker Mike Johnson to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.
Last month, CAIR condemned the ongoing Israel-U.S. massacre of Palestinian civilians in a so-called “safe zone” in Gaza, declaring the Biden administration’s complicity because of President Biden’s insistence on sending more bombs to enable Netanyahu’s war crimes in Rafah. CAIR believes that this is now as much an American genocide as it is an Israeli genocide.
