CAIR, Law Office of Maria Kari Sue State Department for Abandoning Palestinian-Americans in Gaza Genocide (NJ CAIR is Party)

• Ismail Allison
• December 19, 2024
• 1:52 pm

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.”

“The government has a duty to protect American citizens and has failed its duty here by abandoning our clients in Gaza. We simply ask the State Department to treat Palestinian-Americans the way it treats Americans of other backgrounds when they’re trapped in conflict zones,” said CAIR National Deputy Litigation Director Gadeir Abbas.

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CONTACT: Lead Attorney, Maria Kari, info@mariakari.org; CAIR National Deputy Litigation Director, Gadeir Abbas, 202-742-6420, gabbas@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com