US Advocacy Group Renews Call to Halt Israel Funding after West Bank Incident

IQNA – After an armed Israeli settler struck a praying Palestinian man with an all-terrain vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the largest US Muslim civil rights group renewed its demand that Congress halt American funding to Israel.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Friday reiterated its call for the Trump administration and Congress to stop funding the Israeli apartheid regime’s human rights abuses after an armed Israeli settler and army reservist used an ATV to run over a Palestinian man while he was praying in the occupied West Bank.

Video of the incident, which has circulated widely on social media, shows a vehicle deliberately striking the Palestinian worshiper. According to media reports, the driver was an Israeli reservist residing in an illegal settlement in the occupied territory.

In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:

“This shocking and dehumanizing act is yet another example of the unchecked violence and abuse Palestinians face daily under Israel’s illegal occupation. Brazenly running over a man while he prays is enabled by a system that grants near-total impunity to illegal settlers. The Trump administration must end its silence and take concrete steps to hold the Israeli government accountable for these ongoing human rights abuses.”

CAIR recently condemned the Israeli government’s approval of the construction of 19 new illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank and said the move would further make a “Palestinian state impossible.”

Earlier this week, CAIR welcomed Belgium formally joining the case launched by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Also this week, CAIR condemned Israel’s massacre of at least six people, including a woman, at a Gaza wedding, marking yet another violation of the so-called “ceasefire,” and called on Trump and Muslim-majority nations that guaranteed the ceasefire to take action.

One report indicated that Israel killed a baby in that attack.

The Israeli regime has slaughtered almost 400 Gazans during the “ceasefire.” Israeli forces killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza. It is likely the true death toll is much higher.

Source: Cair.com