BREAKING: CAIR Condemns ‘Cowardly and Illegal’ Israeli Attack on Ship ‘Madleen’ Carrying Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
- June 8, 2025
- 9:45 pm
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned an attack by Israeli forces on the British-flagged ship “Madleen” seeking to deliver badly-needed humanitarian supplies to Gaza, and carrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
CAIR called the Israeli attack a “blatant act of international piracy.”
SEE: A Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists has been diverted to Israel – AP
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“We strongly condemn the cowardly and illegal Israeli attack on the Madleen as it approached Gaza with desperately-need humanitarian supplies. This is a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism.
“The Israeli occupation has no legal right to blockade the Gaza coast, much less to drop chemical weapons on humanitarian aid boats and abduct their passengers in international waters.
“The Israeli government must account for and immediately release the Madleen and its humanitarian activists, lift its blockade of aid to Gaza, and end the genocide.
“We applaud Greta Thunberg and the other activists of the Madleen who bravely risked their safety and freedom to help the starving people of Gaza.
“We call on governments – especially western governments funding Israel’s genocide and Arab Muslim governments watching it happen – to show an iota of the courage demonstrated by those on the Madleen by using every tool at their disposal to force an end to the genocide.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | TikTok | Website | YouTube
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
You are receiving this email due to your interest selection from commercial media databases. If you would like to join CAIR’s media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters — For more information, email: info@cair.com, CC ihooper@cair.com
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-999-8292, 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
