Statement “End Israeli Aggression and Occupation”

Statement by American Muslim Organizations: End Israeli Aggression and Occupation, Uphold American principles

The Israeli aggression against the civilian population of Gaza has surpassed all levels of brutality and cruelty. For over three weeks, the Israeli government has unleashed a violent campaign that has so far resulted in more than 1600 deaths (including more than 400 children, 300 women and dozens of elderly people), and more than 9,000 wounded (over 2500 children and 1600 women). No building, however sacred, was spared: more than 8,500 homes, 76 mosques, 2 churches, and 25 hospitals and health clinics were destroyed. Ambulances, doctors, nurses and paramedics, schools, universities, UN buildings, libraries, shelters, food markets, playgrounds, graveyards were also bombed, in addition to 152 educational facilities.

According to Israeli authorities 95 percent of the sixty declared Israeli fatalities are military, while according to the UN about three-quarters of Palestinian casualties are civilians. Consequently, top UN officials and human rights groups have conducted investigation and accused Israel of “war crimes,” and even called for the UN to impose an arms embargo against Israel.

Therefore, we, as American Muslim organizations, academics, Imams, community leaders and activists, affirm our unequivocal support for Palestinian rights to freedom and dignity while forcefully condemning the illegal and oppressive occupation structure.

In short, we call for:

1) An immediate end to Israeli aggression and occupation: This distressing fact must be central to all efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The unceasing violence against the Palestinian people that has taken place for decades must end immediately. It should include the end of the siege and blockade of Gaza, the opening of all border crossings, and the release of thousands of political prisoners in Israeli prisons. The world, as contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, must take responsibility and provide protection and security to the defenseless Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation and control.

2) Stop Sending US Tax Dollars To Israel: We call on our government and Congress to stop punishing Palestinians and to act in America’s best interest by upholding the UN Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention and our cherished ideals of supporting freedom and self-determination. An Israel that continues to occupy millions of human beings and apply Apartheid-like policies to control them should be rejected and ostracized. We demand that our tax dollars not be used in perpetrating the occupation and suffering of Palestinians. In America it is illegal to fund institutions that practice racial, ethnic or religious exclusions, which is precisely what Israel praxis in every aspect of its discriminatory approach to the Palestinians. Funding racism and Apartheid is un-American and we call for an end to it. The President and the Secretary of Defense have a specific legal responsibility not to allow Israel to use US weapons against innocent civilians. Such use not only violates International Humanitarian Law and constitutes a war crime, but its systematic violations also constitute crimes against humanity.

3) Support the BDS Campaign to end occupation: The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is one non-violent tactic that was employed successfully during the South African freedom struggle. We believe that as BDS continues to successfully grow worldwide, a similar, peaceful outcome in the Middle East conflict will result. We call on all justice-seeking, freedom-caring and peace-loving people across the US and around the world to join the BDS campaign until the occupation ends and Palestinian rights are restored.

4) We affirm the UN Charter, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, and the Fourth Geneva Convention (particularly Article 3 and Protocol I which is part of Customary International Law). They collectively provide protection for the Occupied Palestinians. Furthermore, we affirm the right of the Palestinians to defend themselves in the face of continued occupation, expansion of settlements and land expropriation. International Humanitarian Law does not allow for Israeli reprisals or disproportionate response against the occupied Palestinians, which respectively represent war crimes and crimes against humanity.

We call for the dozens of UN resolutions, which for decades, have called for the restoration of Palestinian rights, and which have been ignored by Israel and its supporters, to be implemented. This includes ending Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem; dismantling all Israeli settlements within the 1967 areas; and resolving the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with the principle of the right of return enshrined in UN resolution 194.

The American Muslim community, through its national organizations and community leaders, call for a worldwide education and mobilization campaign to achieve these objectives. We call on all organizations and community members to join the dozens of demonstrations across the country in support of the Palestinian struggle. We urge all to speak out and be heard. We further urge them to participate politically and translate their anger and frustration at the one sided support for Israel into votes across the country at the ballot boxes come November 4th, 2014. Our votes are and grassroots power will be mobilized for Palestine, justice, and human and economic rights, both domestically and across the globe in November. We do believe that a different world is possible but it can only come about through knowledge and actions manifesting the highest ethical ideals. We urge the community to continue calling the White House, congressional representatives and Senators demanding a change in our government policy and supporting Palestinians aspiration for an end to the Occupation, and for freedom and dignity.

In his farewell address, George Washington warned his fellow citizens against the “passionate attachment of one nation for another” because it “produces a variety of evils,” and that such sympathy would be “facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists.” As responsible members of society we call upon our fellow citizens and national leaders to uphold the principles upon which America was established more than two centuries ago: self-determination, freedom, justice, equality, and respect for the rule of law.

Signatures

A. Organizations

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
American Muslim Alliance (AMA)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
Muslim American Society (MAS)
Northern California Islamic Council (NCIC)
Pakistan American Democratic Forum (PADF)
Peace Thru Justice Foundation (PTJF)
Muslim Voters of America (MVA)
Muslim American Society (MAS)
Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA)
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
Palestinian American Society (PAS)
Shura Council Southern California
American and Middle-Eastern Affairs Center (AMEAC Think Tank)
IQRA’ International Educational Foundation
IslamiCity
American Muslim Voice
Arab Muslim American Federation
Muslim Progressive Traditionalist Alliance
Lamppost Productions
Muslim Navayath Voice
Muslim Peace Fellowship
Sahaba Initiative
Institute of American Muslim Youth
Muslim News Digest
Islamic Society of Nevada, Las Vegas
Islamic Foundation North
Islamic Leadership Institute of America
MAS PACE & Outreach Chicago
Islamic Academy of Burlington County, Inc.
Musiad USA
Yildiz Technical University
Islamic Society of Corona-Norco
Incarcerated Youth Tutorial Project at UCLA
Islamic Center of South Bay-LA
Muslim Association of Cleveland East
Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC)
Muslim Student Union UC Irvine
Islamic Center of Wheaton (ICW)
The Prayer Center of Orland Park
Dar-us-Sunnah Masjid & Community Center
Islamic Society of West Contra Costa County Richmond, CA
Islamic Society of Greater Houston
Masjid Al-Taqwa, Chgo., South Shore
Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center
The Mosque Foundation
Lamppost Education Initiative
Dar-us-Sunnah Masjid,Evanston, IL

B. Individuals

Dr. Sami Al-arian
Dr. Hatem Bazian
Dr. Agha Saeed
Professor Tariq Ramadan
Imam Zaid Shakir
Emeritus Professor M.cherif Bassiouni
Professor John L Esposito
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl
Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi
Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid
Shakeel Syed
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi
Professor Sahar Aziz
Professor Haider A. Khan
Anwar N. Haddam
Professor Abbas Barzegar
Professor Rafik Beekun
Professor Johnathan Brown
Professor Omid Safi
Professor Ihsan Khalifeh
Dr Tariq Shah
Hussam Ayloush
Imam Osman Umarji
Imam Jihad Saafir
Imam Asim Buyuksoy
Imam Ameen Omar
Imam Jamaal Diwan
Imam Mustafa Umar
Imam Mohammed Faqih
Imam Taha Hassane
Imam Yassir Fazaga
Imam Farhan Zubairi
Imam Nomaan Baig
Zahra Billoo
Dr Ghada El Yafi
Dr. Colleen Kelly
Rafeeq Jaber
Rahman Khan
Ramzy Baroud
Ustadh Abdullah Ali
Mansour Ansari
Professor Atif Kubursi
Aisha Siddiqui
Abe Abed
Arbazz Mj
Nader Abuljebain
Hamzah Alhadi
Paula Thompson
Dr. Emad Hamdeh
Laura Kirchner
Omar  rehmane
Waleed Osman
Danish Farooq
Dr. Trish Kanous
Rafat Ali
Khalid Alaoui Belghiti
İpek Coşkun
Lubaaba Al-azami
Muhammad Shahedul Haque
Jessica Elizabeth Peters
Luis Marnet
Noshaba Bhatti
Shayan Hussain
Vernon Humphrey
Hanan Rasheed
Kalim Aadan
Qadri Abdallah
Rubina Hussain
Mohsin Bajwa
Dr. Muhammad Hussain
Abdulmumin Mohammed
Rania Shah
Amal Awad
Aisha Rahman
Wajahat Razzaq
Abida Hussain
Sefer Soydar
Nishat Hussain
Abdul-malik Ryan
Afraz Haide
Eid Masri
Hisham Mohammad
Ramina Habib
Wael Hakmeh

Mohammad Ansari
R. David Coolidge
Gretchen Engelson
Omer Awass
Rida Fatima
Rachelle Fawcett
Abdelraouf Ismail
Monadel Herzallah
Dr. Sylvia Chan-malik
Osama Ahmad
Beth Lupe
Azhar Dalal
Salwa Abed
Ibrahim Aoude
Bakr Teebi
Elaine Hagopian
Yusuf Bashir
Hamzah Alhadi
Asrar Khan
Richard Idriss
Rasheedah Bashir
Zahra Billoo
Said Benmensour
Fazle Tiwana
Dr Khaleel Isa
Sadia Jadoon
Cathy Humphreys
Nadeen Salama
Amina Hakim
Daud Rehman
Lynette Wehner
Abed Abusneineh
Zane Motiwala
Hina Ghani
Azim Mogaddedi
Hamidah Kaufman
Zulfiqar Malik
Suad Mohamed
Belal Siddiqui
Karla N. Evans
Mohammad Hussain, Md
Moussa Baggili
Sinan Jaber
Maleeha Latif
Dr. Mansoor Takun
Roberta Davenport
Marlene Poulin
Somee Sharifi
Hisham Yakub
Zeenat Yakub
Samina Sundas
Aslam Abdullah
Wahaj Aman
Karl Lawar
Ayesha Khalid
Saleh Arakji
Karen Danielson
Lida Larson
Adam Larson
Mounia Chaib
Adriaan Joubert
Awad Hamdan
Cierra Hall
Yonis Musa
George Hudes
Haitham Abulhaija
Firasath Ali
Haider Javed
Fadi Sahouri
Meral Baris
Tugrul Keskin
S. Reshma Inamdar
Ahmed Darwish
S. Reshma Inamdar
Dustin Craun
Yama Niazi
Faisal Durrani
Mona Kayyali
Ehab Odeh
Fahim Aref
Malek Odeh
Islam Elayan
Ghias El Yafi
Mohannad Malas
Muhammad Bello Ibrahim
Alexander Abbasi
Ramee Hijaz
Ryan Brizendine
Manal
Mustafa Mohamed Ali
Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Mariana Orozco
Nagi Mabruk
Ali Heydari
Lucas Fleisher
Hani Kharufeh
Ali S Diab
Lubna Said
Sarra Tlili
Maria Sheikh
Sarra Tlili
Arooj Ahmad
Lubna Quraishi
Saifullah Siddiqui
Michael Elayn
Junaid Haqqi
Dr. Emran El-badawi
Ramzi Issa
Kate Jamal
Joel Rogers
Ramy Salah
Kamilah Albahri
Nadeem Iqbal
Professor Nahyan Fancy
Dr. Taj Hashmi
Dr Amr Osman
Brianna Meyers
Dawayne Allen
Ehaab Zubi
Amna Latif
Armaan Siddiqi
Iman Seirafi
Ariana Hussain
Hamid Algar
Sarah Bhatt
Dawayne Allen
Abdulkarim Soroush
Safeer Mohiuddin
Mehmet Murat Sahin
Kalim Farooki
Rafe Husain
Ephrosine Daniggelis
Sumera Siddiqui
Lilliane Abufanas
Ahmed Shaikh
Kazbek Soobzokov
Lilliane Abufanas
Mehdi Syed
Dany Doueiri
Yaser Ali
Saira Sayeed
Aslam Dada
Mehdi B Syed
Nafisa Nuzhat
Dawar Naqvi
Kazem Alamdari
Amjad Naser
Nancy A. Khalil
Rawhi Beituni
Jamil Khader
Masoud Nassimi
Patricia Blair
Arif Dirlik
Judith Blau
Faisal Qazi
Mohammed Abdul Aleem
Ibrahim Uyar
Syed Zahid Mohsin
Saskia Sassen
Rami Elkinawy
Dr. Sabri Samirah
Usman Khan
Abuishaq Abdulhafiz
Dr. Muqtedar Khan
Imdad Yusufaly
Alparslan Acikgenc
Mahmoud Harmoush
Obair Katchi
Ripa Royees
Akbar Rizvi
Sami Aziz
Khaled Ahmad
Dr. Colleen Keyes
Chaplain Bilal Ansari
Gus Hussein
Ayesha Khan
Siddique Patel
Catherine Smith
Dr. Fait Muedini
Saif Liswi
Basma Hijazi Elkarra
Khalid Aldaas
Rashida Yusuf
Naznin Barkat
Omar Zarka
Abdiqani Abukar
Akhmed Chalandaroff
Sanna Rashid
Usha Prasad
Meher Rizvi
Ahmed Husain
Alaa Abusaman
Omar Aldaas
Yasir Ali
Farid Sharif
Imran Razi
Rebecca Gould
Dr. Adis Duderija
Humiera Bargzie
Amer Saleh
Nagihan Dogan
Ehtesham M. Mirza
Raed Salah
Mumtaz Ahmad
Hosam
Joe Hamdan
Ahmad Malkawi
Mohamad Nasir
Shahnawaz Sabuwala
Mohammed Kaiseruddin
Anwar Hourin
Osama Ali
Omar Suleiman
Mujahid Saqib
Zurwa Khan
John Kelly
Bincol Macarambon
Bakhtawar Risz
Aryani Astuti
Ummi Zainul
Thomas Alameddine
Assad Aziz
Abdul M Mjaz
Camille A. Chehayeb
Sulayman Raji
Muhammad Asyraf
Yageen El
Viranee Intachat
Abdul Wahab Saleem
Farah Faiz
Shamsol Hoque
Anwer Khan
Atef Hey
Muhammad Zulkarnain
Muhammad Aamir
Huzaifa Hassan
Abdul Rahman Noor
Omar Mohsen
Yazan Ak
Yasmeen Belal
Laila Zaman
Zaheer Samodien
Aly Mohamed
Adam Ibrahim
Mohammad Amin
Marium Rana
Abdulla Osama
Abdullah Qurbani
Abdulla Osama
Azlin Farhana
Sidra Perpuse
Erum Dost
Hamna Iqbal
Mimi Bukeirat
Salman Azhar
Mustafa Khan
Aydogan Kars
Rubina Pervez
Dr Nighat Butt
Sajid Mohammed
Guled Mohamed
Shukry Adams
Mujeeb Rahman
Affan Ahmad
Muhammad Hasan
Omar Ijazi
Sadaf Khan
Faten Abdelfattah
Hauwa Usman
Nabeel Sheikh
Mumtaz Ali
Azmath Moosa
Aatif Rahman
Ahmad Hasan
Anees Rahman
Kaynat Sarwar
Zineb Ritab
Muhammad Saiduzzaman
Basil Ali
Ayaz Syed
Alaa Fahmy
Dr Mohamed Krad
S. Merchant
Ghada El Yafi
Tasneema Ghazi
Hamdiah Ali
Mohammad S Nasir
Samir Abdelmawla
Ibrahim Hannoun
Halide Salam
Mumtaz Khan
Ruzaini Yakub
Asaad Tahir
Samah Malik
Oussama Jammal
Riaz Khan
Saad Syed
April Brooks Haj Ibrahim
Zein Rimawi
Mahmoud Harmoush
Charles Muhammad
Zaid Adhami
Amy Hossain
Zahir Ahmed
Amir Mahida
Brice Hamack
Ousmane Kane
Ateka Ali
Ehab Abdullah
Kristin Szremski
Amal Qazi
Shoaib Khadri
Zeretta Hyson
Feda Abdulrahman
Shoib Ali
Saleem Shaikh
Roger Abuzalaf
Laila Alharithi
Mokhtar Shawky
Leila Camare
Marvin Camare
Sadia Khawaja
Maseeh Ganjali
Shaher Ahmad
Muna Ali Ismail
Larry Parker
Basha Sajjad
Saeed Ikbarieh
Hamada Yehya
Muhieddin Arman
Neda Joudeh
Shaher Ahmad
Hamid Yaqubi
Khadeeja Abdullah
Omar Nawaz
Almana Ahmad
Lisa Kinney-Bajwa
Najma Adam
Najma Adam
Mahmood Khan
Barryett Enge
Rabia Afghani
Jerry Sherman
Rania Afghani
Nour Abdallah
Nazar AlQuraishi
Gulshan Oomerjee
Tasneem Asmaljee
Mustafa Elfarra
Kathleen Mikulin
Judith Lutfy
Moustafa Shamma
Keith Washington
James Primm
Mahin Meshkinpour
Madiha Siddiqui
Saleh Harharah
Saleh Harharah
Peter Gunther
Nazir Mohamed
Mariana Dussin
Osama Elkhatib
Juliane Hammer
Basema Elzaharna
Abed Khatib
Mohamad Shafi
Ahmed Khalil
Ahmad Esmat El Bendary
Fadi Suboh
Yasin Arain
Mamoun Samara
Hatem Ahmed
Said Belabed
Dennis O’Brien
Hajira Mahdi
Nader Nofal
Suhad Tabahi
Emma McAboy
N Radwan
Cynthia M. Little
Anam Matariyeh
Hoda Matariyeh
Jamil Matariyeh
Adam Halik
Linda Morrar
Wisaam Nubani
Abeer Musleh
Rehab Hamad
Noah Nuru
Aman Wardak
Viva Habbit Van Assen
Alessio Bordoni
Cathleen Krahe
Manal Fakhoury

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