Washington, April 11 (RC)-- The largest Muslim civil rights organization in the United States has denounced Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for rejecting accusations that Israel has committed genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) made the condemnation in a statement on X shortly after Austin said Washington has seen no evidence that Israel committed acts of genocide.
“We strongly condemn @SecDef Austin for his dishonest and delusional genocide denial, which ignores the fact that the Israeli govt made openly genocidal threats at the start of the war and has spent six months acting on those threats by sparking a famine, destroying civilian infrastructure, ethnically cleansing entire cities & massacring 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.”
In the Senate hearing room, protesters -- some with red paint on their hands to resemble blood -- stood up as Austin was delivering his opening remarks on the Pentagon’s 2025 budget request, forcing the committee to pause while police removed them from the room.
“Stop killing my people,” one demonstrator shouted. “Stop funding Israel.” Several protesters began chanting to “Stop the genocide in Gaza,” and at least one person said the U.S. should try to work on addressing issues like health care and climate change instead of sending money to Israel.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked Austin later in the hearing if he agreed with the protesters that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. “We don't have evidence of that (genocide),” Austin told the lawakers of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Washington is under growing public pressure to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. But Austin told the Senate hearing that Washington is still committed to defending Israel against the Palestinian resistance groups.
Authorities in top international organizations like the United Nations have repeatedly stated in recent months that the massive scale of killings committed by Israel in Gaza does not match Operation Al-Aqsa Storm of October 7, 2023 by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which led to the death of about 1,200 Israeli settlers and troops.
In January, South Africa lodged a complaint against the regime with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of carrying out a genocide in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 120 civilians have been killed and over 50 injured across the besieged strip in a matter of 24 hours.
Israel has killed over 33,000 people, among them more than 14,000 children, in Gaza since early October.
