(LOS ANGELES, CA – 10/27/2023) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) held a press conference yesterday, Thursday, Oct. 26, with Palestinian Americans whose family members are currently trapped in Gaza.
WATCH: CAIR-LA Press Conference With Kaoud Family
Six members of the Kaoud family—Jamal, Esam, Hesham, Nezam, Mohammad, and Ameer—are American citizens who were visiting relatives in northern Gaza when Israel began its violent assault. The attacks have left them, and hundreds of other American citizens, trapped in Gaza.
Jamal Kaoud’s daughters, Shamiss and Dooneya Kaoud, and Esam Kaoud’s daughter, Helal Kaoud, spoke about their family’s multiple attempts to leave Gaza and their struggle to receive assistance from the State Department to get their family members home safely.
An estimated 600 American citizens are currently stranded in Gaza. Some humanitarian aid has been allowed to cross the Rafah border into Gaza, but the border is still closed to civilians trying to leave.
Since Oct. 7, the United States has evacuated hundreds of Americans who were in Israel.
In a statement made during the press conference, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said:
“The Biden administration has decided to politicize the lives of U.S. citizens. It has decided to put a priority on aiding and abetting Israel in its ongoing genocide over the safety of U.S. citizens—that’s the problem. We fund this apartheid regime. We fund its occupation. We fund its onslaught on Gaza today, and we protect it. We shield it with veto power and with political discussions at every level. It’s very easy to push a button and say, ’Stop, let’s get U.S. citizens evacuated,’ but there is no political decision, no desire to save lives because now we’re on a vengeance action of settling scores with the Palestinian people, who have been at the brunt of receiving of Israel’s occupation, oppression, injustice, shielded and supported by the U.S.
“We still have faith that if enough Americans raise their voices in support of these families, to say every human life matters. Every human life is sacred. And when it comes to America, the life of every citizen should be a priority for our government
In a statement made during the press conference, CAIR-LA Managing Attorney Dina Chehata Esq. said:
“All six men are now trapped in Gaza in what has become nothing short of a hellscape for them, nearly 600 American Palestinians, and two million Gazans. Esam Kaoud, like so many Palestinian Americans, has known that for over seven decades, going back to Palestine means that his life, safety, health, and liberty would be in the hands of Israel—an occupying power that has turned Gaza into what Human Rights Watch and others have called the largest open-air prison under an unequivocalapartheid system. As a result of that apartheid system, we have seven million Palestinians who live outside Palestine right now.
“The Kaoud brothers are members of that diaspora. They sought refuge here in the United States, a land where they worked hard for decades. They have put down roots here, they planted seeds here, they’ve raised their children here, they’ve paid their taxes here, and they bought into the dream of equal opportunity. The dream of equal treatment. They believed what our constitution promised, and that is, unlike Israel, all persons in this land and within these borders have equal protection under the laws of the United States of America.â€
CAIR-LA is calling on President Biden for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and to evacuate all Palestinian Americans currently trapped 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
