US Muslim groups decry Israeli violence against Palestinians

WASHINGTON

American Muslim organizations on Sunday strongly condemned Israeli violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has left hundreds of Palestinians injured during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In a statement, the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) said it denounced the nighttime storming and desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces and the firing of stun grenades at worshippers offering Ramadan prayers.

The USCMO is the largest coalition of national, regional, and local Muslim organizations and Islamic institutions.

The organization urged President Joe Biden and the Congress to halt its financial support for Israeli government and institutions in their "clear crimes against humanity."

Separately, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Saturday urged media outlets and journalists to stop referring to Israeli attacks on Palestinians as "clashes."

Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director, whose family is from Palestine, said Muslim and Christian people in Palestine continue their struggle to resist the ongoing cleansing and apartheid system.

"To term this resistance and the brutal Israeli response as 'clashes' falsely indicates a moral equivalency between the oppressor and the oppressed, between the occupier and the occupied," said Awad.

Palestinians in recent days have protested in solidarity with residents of occupied East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood amid attacks by Israeli police.

The protests came as the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem approved a decision to evict seven Palestinian families from their homes in favor of Israeli settlers at the beginning of this year.

Israeli police attempted to disperse worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Friday evening, using stun grenades and gas bombs. Women were also targeted by Israeli forces, according to witnesses.

At least 205 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.