CAIR, CAIR-LA Announce Suit Against FBI for Using Illegal, Racist Watchlist Against Palestinian-Americans
Al Enteshar Al Arabi Newspaper
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, and its Greater Los Angeles Area office (CAIR-LA) today held press conferences in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. announcing the filing of a lawsuit against the federal government for placing one Palestinian-American on the No Fly List and seizing the electronic device of another, while interrogating him about his lawful organizing against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
In its lawsuit, CAIR states in part:
“Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid and Mr. Mustafa Zeidan are both United States citizens of Palestinian descent. Neither Dr. Abu Irshaid nor Mr. Zeidan have ever been charged or convicted of a violent crime. Yet, recently, the federal government has placed Dr. Abu Irshaid and Mr. Zeidan on a secret list, subjecting one to a humiliating process of detention, questioning, and phone seizure at the border and barring the other from flying altogether.
“As a result of his status on the Government’s secret list now, Dr. Abu Irshaid is detained at the border by federal agents each time he crosses it. While they detain Dr. Abu Irshaid, the federal agents ask Dr. Abu Irshaid humiliating questions about his lawful associations and work leading a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of Palestinians. Because of his status on the Government’s secret list, federal agents now seize Dr. Abu Irshaid’s phone when he crosses the border and they have successfully
coerced him into unlocking it. As of the filing of this complaint, federal agents continue to hold Dr. Abu Irshaid’s cellphone,
despite several attempts by Dr. Abu Irshaid, through his
attorneys, to retrieve it.
“Only one thing has changed for Dr. Abu Irshaid in recent months: his constant and passionate advocacy for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and an end to the United States’ complicity in that genocide.
“Mr. Zeidan has fared even worse. Mr. Zeidan travels to Jordan several times a year to visit and take care of his ailing mother. After purchasing a ticket to see her in May of this year, he showed up to the airport, only for officials at the airport to tell him that he was forbidden from boarding his flight because of his status on the Government’s secret list. The government has given Mr. Zeidan no explanation for why he’s been placed on the No Fly List after years of flying overseas without any issues. Only one thing has changed in the last several months for Mr. Zeidan: he organizes a weekly protest to call for an end to Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and the United States’ complicity in that genocide.
“The Government is using its secret, illegal list against Dr. Abu Irshaid, Mr. Zeidan, and other innocent Americans, not for a security purpose, but because federal agents object to the lawful exercise of their constitutional rights.”
Since Oct. 7, CAIR has received reports from Americans across the country who have been questioned and harassed by federal law enforcement officials for their activism in support of Palestine and against the United States’ complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
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