MEDIA ADVISORY: CAIR, Law office of Maria Kari Sue State Department for Abandoning Palestinian-Americans in Gaza Genocide
- For Immediate Release and Distribution -
Illinois plaintiff Mariam Alrayes will speak about filing her lawsuit to save her elderly parents and siblings who currently reside in a crowded tent in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, where they sought refuge after their home was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
(CHICAGO, IL, 12/18/24) - On Thursday, Dec. 19, the Sacramento, Chicago and New Jersey chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), along with the Law Office of Maria Kari, will announce the filing of a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State for failing to evacuate American citizens, American legal residents, and the family members of Americans trapped under Israeli bombardment in the Gaza genocide.
The nationwide parallel news conferences will include family members of those trapped in the Gaza genocide.
WHAT: CAIR-Chicago News Conference
WHO:
Maggie Slavin, CAIR-Chicago Operations Manager
Heena Musabji, CAIR-Chicago Legal Director
Mariam Alrayes, IL Plaintiff
Jenin Alharithi, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Chicago Chapter, Communications Coordinator
WHEN: Thursday, December 19, 11 a.m. (CT)
WHERE: CAIR-Chicago's Azima Center, 17 North State Street, Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60602
LIVESTREAM: https://www.facebook.com/cairchicago
BACKGROUNDER:
In the last 14 months, at least 45,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed during Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Palestinian-Americans are trapped amidst the destruction, facing a severe risk of losing their own lives while others need urgent medical treatment.
SEE: Chicago area woman's family stuck in Gaza, suing Biden administration to force evacuation
While the State Department has acted promptly to evacuate similarly situated Americans of different backgrounds in other conflict zones, including Israeli-Americans after Oct. 7, it has failed to promptly evacuate Palestinian-Americans from Gaza. The lawsuit challenges the State Department’s failure to evacuate these Palestinian-Americans on constitutional grounds.
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote understanding.
CONTACT: 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