FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2024
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK, CAIR To Hold A People’s ‘Speak Out’ in Congress on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, & Anti-Muslim Hate
WASHINGTON, DC – This Wednesday, CODEPINK will use the People’s House (i.e. Congress) to hold a “people’s briefing” on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, and islamophobia; including acts of hate and hate-speech, harassment, and discrimination waged against folks of those identity groups and those standing in solidarity with these communities. We will compile testimonies from our briefing to share with Congressional offices as we push for official hearings on this burgeoning crisis in the coming weeks/months.
- When: 10:00am Rayburn Cafeteria
- Where: 45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20515
“As our two-party Presidential candidates now throw around the word “Palestinian” as a pejorative, and more young children become the victims of life-threatening hate crimes in this country, we must come together to address the worsening epidemic of all forms of hatred and discrimination and demand more from our Representatives and Senators,” explained CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin.
Congress has held at least ten official hearings since October 7th, 2023 on antisemitism, but not a single hearing or briefing on any other form of racial, religious, or ethnic discrimination. Congress has also issued dozens of letters that equate anti-semitism with anti-Zionisml, while suggesting that those criticizing the state of Israel are financing or tied to “terrorist supporting organizations”. At the same time, violence waged against Arab-American and Muslim-American children has increased exponentially.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, reported back in January 2024 that Muslim civil rights groups received 3,578 complaints during the final three months of 2023, marking a 178% increase in reports from the previous year. Their now dated report, titled "Fatal: The Resurgence of Anti-Muslim Hate," says 15% of complaints the group received involved employment bias. 8.5% of bias reports involved schools — including colleges and universities. 7.5% of complaints involved allegations of hate crimes, including the case of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume who was stabbed to death by his family's landlord near Chicago.
For more information about the teach-in, please contact Medea at [email protected].
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