PRESS STATEMENT: 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 spoke 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, 12/19/24) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest civil rights and advocacy organization, and the Law Office of Maria Kari today announced 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 Gaza.
[NOTE: Today, CAIR announced the lawsuit at news conferences in California, Illinois and New Jersey.]
SEE LAWSUIT HERE.
The lawsuit comes after the plaintiffs, all Palestinian-Americans, have tried, for months, to exhaust non-legal means to escape Gaza. Each plaintiff in the lawsuit is eligible to be evacuated but has been summarily ignored by the State Department and other Biden administration officials.
Meanwhile, when similarly situated Americans of different backgrounds have been trapped in conflict zones, the State Department has acted with appropriate urgency. The State Department has cited the closure of Rafah as the ostensible reason for its failure to help Palestinian-Americans in Gaza, but the lawsuit specifically calls for evacuations through Kerem Shalom, where evacuations have been done in the past.
The lawsuit alleges that the State Department’s disparate treatment of Palestinian-Americans violates the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection for citizens and legal residents abroad under federal law. This is not the first time Americans in Gaza have had to turn to the courts for assistance.
SEE: Palestinian Americans sue state department on behalf of relatives stuck in Gaza (The Guardian)
“The law requires the U.S. government to protect Americans wherever they may be. With every passing day, the danger of our clients dying from Israeli bombardment or the starvation and disease now rampant in Gaza only goes up,” said lead attorney Maria Kari. “The State Department must do the right thing and save these people from certain death.”
“My own family has suffered the devastating consequences of the State Department’s inaction,” said attorney Yasmeen Elagha. “The State Department must act to evacuate our clients now, before another soul is lost.”
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance.
CONTACT: Lead Attorney, Maria Kari, info@mariakari.org; 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