White House Disavows U.S. Islamic Group After Leader’s Oct. 7 Remarks

The White Home disavowed an American-Islamic advocacy group on Thursday after the group’s director declared that he “was glad to see” Palestinians get away of Gaza on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist assault on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 folks and led to the seizure of 240 others as hostages.

A spokesman for President Biden condemned the remarks by Nihad Awad, the nationwide government director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who declared in a speech that Palestinians in Gaza “have the proper to self-defense” however that Israel “as an occupying energy” doesn’t. Mr. Awad mentioned his feedback had been being misconstrued.

“We condemn these surprising, antisemitic statements within the strongest phrases,” mentioned Mr. Biden’s spokesman, Andrew Bates. “The horrific, brutal terrorist assaults dedicated by Hamas on Oct. 7 had been, as President Biden mentioned, ‘abhorrent’ and symbolize ‘unadulterated evil.’” Mr. Bates added that the atrocities of that day “shock the conscience” and mentioned that “each chief has a accountability to name out antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.”

The White Home didn’t have an in depth relationship with the council, which works by the acronym CAIR, however included an officer of the group in a “listening session on Islamophobia” in Could with Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris. Later that month, the White Home listed the council amongst a number of unbiased organizations in a doc discussing commitments to struggle antisemitism. The White Home eliminated CAIR’s identify from that on-line doc on Thursday after Mr. Awad’s remarks to clarify it was distancing itself from the group.

CAIR has lengthy been a controversial participant in Washington, presenting itself as a champion of civil rights for Muslims in an period of Islamophobia but repeatedly pilloried by many, particularly on the political proper, as an apologist for extremism. Mr. Awad, a Palestinian American, and his group have been accused of previous sympathy for Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the USA and European Union. Whereas Mr. Awad mentioned in 1994 that he was “in assist of the Hamas motion,” he mentioned in 2006 that “I don’t assist Hamas as we speak,” and CAIR has denied any ties to the group or assist for terrorism.

The remarks by Mr. Awad had been made two weeks in the past at a gathering of American Muslims for Palestine however got extensive circulation on Thursday morning by the Center East Media Analysis Institute, or Memri, a Washington-based group based by a veteran Israeli intelligence officer that screens and interprets Arabic and different media. In a video posted online, Mr. Awad was seen seemingly celebrating and justifying the Oct. 7 assault.

“The folks of Gaza solely determined to interrupt the siege, the partitions of the focus camp, on Oct. 7,” he mentioned. “And sure, I used to be glad to see folks breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their very own land and stroll free into their land that they weren’t allowed to stroll in.

“And sure,” he continued, “the folks of Gaza have the proper to self-defense, have the proper to defend themselves, and sure, Israel as an occupying energy doesn’t have that proper to self-defense.”

Mr. Awad mentioned in a press release on Thursday that his feedback had been taken “out of context” by “an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate web site” to distort his that means. In one other a part of his speech that was not included within the video, he mentioned he denounced hate towards Jews and referred to as antisemitism “an actual evil” that “needs to be rejected and combated by all folks.”

He mentioned his feedback within the speech about Oct. 7 referred to Palestinians who crossed from Gaza into Israel after the border was breached that day however didn’t themselves interact in violence.

“The common Palestinians who briefly walked out of Gaza and set foot on their ethnically cleansed land in a symbolic act of defiance towards the blockade and stopped there with out participating in violence had been inside their rights below worldwide legislation,” Mr. Awad mentioned within the assertion. “The extremists who went on to assault civilians in southern Israel weren’t. Focusing on civilians is unacceptable, irrespective of whether or not they’re Israeli or Palestinian or every other nationality.”