CAIR Condemns Sen. Graham’s Implicit ‘Green Light’ for Israeli Attack on Greta Thunberg, Gaza Aid Flotilla
Senator’s remark comes weeks after Israeli drone strike on aid ship in Europe, echoes past deadly assaults on civilian vessels
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for a grotesque social media post suggesting a possible Israeli state terrorism attack on peaceful international activists aboard a humanitarian aid ship bound for Gaza, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
SEE: Lindsey Graham Comment About Greta Thunberg Sparks Outrage – Newsweek
CAIR warned the remark could be interpreted by Israel as a green light for more violence against unarmed civilians.
On June 1, Senator Graham posted on X, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!,” referring to Greta Thunberg and other volunteers aboard Madleen, a vessel launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to deliver urgently needed aid to Gaza and nonviolently challenge Israel’s ongoing and illegal blockade for Gaza.
According to the coalition, Madleen is carrying food, medicine, children’s prosthetics, and water desalination kits. All passengers are trained in nonviolence and are participating in a peaceful humanitarian mission to break Israel’s genocidal blockade.
The launch comes just one month after the Freedom Flotilla Coalition says Israeli drones bombed the aid ship Conscience in international waters near Malta. It also follows the deadly 2010 Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara, during which ten humanitarian volunteers were killed while attempting to bring aid to Gaza.
SEE: CAIR Calls on Trump to ‘Rein in’ Israeli State Terrorism After Attack on Gaza Aid Flotilla
SEE: CAIR: President Obama Must Condemn Gaza Flotilla ‘Massacre’
In a statement, CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw said:
“Senator Graham’s callous remark is both inhumane and reckless. By mocking peaceful, unarmed civilians risking their lives to deliver humanitarian aid, he is dehumanizing them and potentially signaling U.S. sanction for Israel to repeat its past deadly state terrorism attacks on flotilla ships. These are not enemies, they are volunteers risking their lives. If Senator Graham has any sense of decency, he should retract his statement and make clear that the United States does not condone violence against peaceful human rights defenders.
“CAIR urges the Trump administration and members of Congress to publicly support the safe passage of the Madleen and all humanitarian missions to Gaza, and to make clear that any attack on the vessel would be a violation of international law and human rights.”
Yesterday, CAIR condemned so-called Israeli aid concentration sites in Gaza as “killing zones” after Israel slaughtered at least 31 people and wounded more than 150 Sunday while they were on their way to receive food in the Gaza. The Associated Press reports that Israeli forces fired on crowds 1,000 yards away from an aid concentration site run by an Israeli-backed foundation.
Last Month, CAIR condemned Israel’s plan to allow only a few aid trucks into Gaza as a “completely insufficient, psychotic PR stunt.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com
