(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/31/23) – The US Council of Muslim Organizations and American Muslims today said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s expressions of “ironclad” support for Israel’s far-right apartheid government despite its escalating violence against the Palestinian people unacceptable and called on the Biden Administration to take concrete steps to end the Israeli government’s human rights abuses.
In a statement, USCMO Secretary-General Oussama Jammal said:
“Secretary Blinken is calling for calm, de-escalation by both sides, while giving Israel’s far-right apartheid government the political cover and financial support it needs to continue engaging in wanton violence and ethnic cleansing against Palestine. The Palestinian people don’t merely want security. They want dignity. They want justice. They want freedom.
“By refusing to say or do anything meaningful to force the Israeli apartheid government to change course, the Biden Administration is enabling continued Israeli aggression against Palestinians, confiscation of their lands for illegal settlement building, collective punishment by means of home demolitions, nightly killing raids by the Israeli occupation forces into Palestinian refugee camps and villages, and threats to the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.”
USCMO calls for the Biden Administration to become even-handed, honest brokers of peace in the Holy Land by taking concrete action to end the occupation and support justice for all people – Palestinians, and not just Israelis – in the interest of advancing the humanitarian diplomacy President Biden promised to deliver during his campaign.
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