Photo Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images
(SACRAMENTO, CA – 10/7/24) – The California chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) today marked one year since the Oct. 7attack and the start of the genocide in Gaza by urging the Biden Administration to halt all U.S. funding of Israel’s atrocities and forcing the Israeli government to accept a comprehensive ceasefire deal that ends the genocide in Gaza, frees all captives and political prisoners, averts an all-out regional war, and addresses the root cause of decades of recurring violence: decades of dispossession and oppression of the Palestinian people.
Over the past 12 months, Israel’s genocidal military campaign has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, overwhelmingly civilians, including at least 16,500 children and 10,300 women. However, the reported death toll does not factor in the thousands of presumed dead buried under the rubble and deaths caused by the decimation of vital infrastructure. A July 2024 study published in the international medical journalThe Lancet estimates that 186,000 or more deaths could be attributedto Israel’s ongoing violence in Gaza.
Israel’s indiscriminate bombing has destroyed entire residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure, rendering Gaza nearly uninhabitable. Approximately 1.5 million people have been forcibly displaced and are facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis as Israel continues to cut off food, water, electricity, and medicine to Gaza.
Additionally, Israel has expanded its attacks to nearby countries including Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, killing over 2,000 civilians.
In June 1967, Israel invaded and illegally occupied Gaza and the West Bank, placing millions of Palestinians under a brutal apartheid-like occupation. Prior to that, in 1948, terrorist groups and militias like the Irgun, which would later be merged into the “Israeli Defense Forces,” violently seized 78% of the land that made up historic Palestine and forcibly expelled hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians from their homes.
Decades later, Palestinians are still facing ethnic cleansing and genocide in their homeland at the hands of the Israeli government.
In a statement, CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush said:
“Enough is enough. Enough seeing children being murdered while the world watches helplessly or callously. For a full year, we have witnessed a genocide unfold before our eyes at the hands of the Israeli government, funded by billions of American federal tax dollars. The Biden Administration has spent the last 365 days enabling the Israeli government’s atrocities in Gaza—and now in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen—and ignoring the overwhelming majority of Americans who oppose sending more weapons to Israel, signaling that the lives of Palestinian civilians are inconsequential, and that Israel can continue to commit war crimes with impunity. Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Biden Administration are on the brink of dragging our nation into an all-out regional war at the expense of innocent men, women, and children.
“It is long overdue for the Biden Administration to use its power to end not only the year-long genocide but also the 76 years of dehumanization, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and murder in Palestine. Not another Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni, or Israeli child or other innocent person should have to die because of the immoral and cowardly policies of U.S. and Israeli politicians. Our elected officials are responsible for upholding the values of human rights and justice and it is vital that the Administration immediately stop sending weapons and aid to Israel. The U.S. cannot remain complicit in war crimes as the Israeli government continues to cross every conceivable line of morality and legality
In the last year, the United Nations has passed several resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo on Israel. Additionally, the International Court of Justice has issued rulings that there is plausible evidence that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that its occupation of Palestinian land violates international law and must end.
Despite this, the U.S. government has continued to show unconditional support for Israel by sending several billions of dollars in military aid, including arecent $8.7 billion aid package, andinviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give a joint address to Congress.
CAIR-CA spokespeople are available for additional comments.
CAIR-CA is a chapter of CAIR, America’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 EnjyEl-Kadi,(714)851-4851oreelkadi@cair.com; CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Madi Morse-Hameed,mmorse-hameed@cair.com
