- For Immediate Release and Distribution -

Mayor Brand Johnson, CAIR-Chicago’s Ahmed Rehab (far right), and Chi-Care food pantry team.

(CHICAGO, IL, 8/19/2024) – On Monday, August 19, 2024, the Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, welcomed Mayor Brandon Johnson's statement recognizing that the Israeli government’s war on Gaza is “genocidal.”

In an interview with Mother Jones magazine ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday in Chicago, mayor Johnson said: “What’s happening right now is not only egregious, it is genocidal. We have to acknowledge and name it for what it is and have the moral courage to exercise our authority.”

Mayor Johnson’s statement comes as Israeli forces shot another Palestinian journalist and slaughtered more Palestinian civilians, including a mother and her six children, five of them quintuplets.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said:

“The acknowledgment of the horrendous abuses in Gaza is not politicking. Their denial is. Americans are incensed. We need more elected officials like Mayor Johnson who can put their humanity above political calculation, and honesty above blatant obfuscation. Anything less will be judged harshly by history.”

Rehab further emphasized the dire need for a ceasefire last week in a joint press conference with Muslim leaders, stating, "We call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire to save these innocent lives, and there must be accountability for every rogue state actor in the world that targets children and innocent civilians."

Yesterday, CAIR called on the Biden administration to force Israel to immediately end its genocidal attacks in Gaza to allow a polio vaccination campaign to be conducted after the first case of that disease was detected in a Palestinian child. According to medical personnel the poliovirus was found in a 10-month-old child in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Israeli attacks, with many more buried under rubble and threatened by illness. The majority of these deaths have been women and children. Experts say the death toll may be “vastly underestimated.” The medical journal The Lancet reported that some 186,000 Palestinians may have died since Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Some 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, often multiple times.

READ MORE:

WGN TV: Muslim leaders expect 100,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators for DNC

NBC News: Chicago-area Muslim leaders demand Democratic policies on Gaza

WBEZ: Gaza should be on DNC agenda, Chicago Muslim leaders say

FOX 32 Chicago: Chicago's Muslim community uses DNC to draw attention to violence in the Middle East

CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote understanding.  

CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com; Maggie Slavin, Operations Manager of CAIR-Chicago, 815-590-3991, mslavin@cair.com; Hafsa Haider, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, hhaider@cair.com