Summary
- Four Muslim Congress members pledge action on Gaza
genocide. - Andre Carson, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Latifah
Simon involved. - Non-Muslim Summer Lee joins efforts on human rights
violations. - They target the US Congressional Human Rights
Commission for action. - Focus on grave violations and Palestinian civilian
suffering in Gaza.
The Muslim lawmakers Andre Carson, Ilhan Omar,
Rashida Tlaib, and Latifah Simon—along with non-Muslim lawmaker Summer
Lee—swore they would push for formal congressional hearings on the humanitarian
crisis in Gaza and look into every option to help deliver food and medical aid
to besieged areas during a meeting with a delegation from the Islamic Circle of
North America (ICNA) over the weekend at a local Oakland hotel.
Members of the ICNA delegation, under the
direction of Dr. Asim Asad, went from all across the United States, including
Florida, Dallas, Sacramento, and San Jose, to meet with the politicians
one-on-one and in groups.
Dr. Bilal Piracha, a doctor who had just returned from Gaza three days prior, was invited by the ICNA delegation to
inform parliamentarians on the deteriorating situation. Speaking at the
ceremony, Piracha described the devastation he saw in a moving and explicit
manner and urged Congressmen to travel to the Gaza border and drive convoys of
relief trucks into the area.
“This is no longer a time for words but for
action,”
Piracha said.
“Let members of Congress be seen, let the
world see that we cannot stay silent while genocide unfolds. Even if we are
arrested or blocked, the message must be sent: enough is enough.”
In a widely shared social media video, he also
pleaded for Field Marshal Asim Munir, the head of Pakistan’s army, to use his
developing relationship with former US President Donald Trump to exert pressure
on American officials to stop what he called “the systematic extermination
of Palestinians.”
Piracha further urged Pakistan’s military to
coordinate with Egypt and Jordan to send relief goods—including food and
medicine—via C-1 transport planes through the Rafah border crossing.
Describing this as his third medical relief
mission to Gaza, Dr Piracha said the current conditions were “far worse and
utterly inhumane” compared to his previous visits.
“Continuous bombings,
bloodshed, and a flood of injured women, children, and the elderly in hospitals
that are barely functioning—this is a humanitarian catastrophe,”
he said.
He pointed out that a week ago, World Central
Kitchen, which was serving one meal a day, shut down. Hospitals lack basic food
supplies, necessary medications, and even sophisticated equipment. These days,
people say, “Give us bread, even if you shoot us later.”
There are also reports that the United Nations
has stopped providing food aid. Piracha claims that the “Gaza
Foundation” is a front for American and Israeli corporate interests that
are taking advantage of the situation. He claimed,
“Israeli forces use the
remaining boxes as bait to carry out mass shootings, while thousands arrive
hungry and only a few dozen boxes are distributed.”
He further disclosed that a large number of
victims were left untreated because attempts to recover bodies were thwarted by
sniper fire. Thirty volunteers who worked under harsh conditions were part of
his team, which was given access by the World Health Organization and the
humanitarian organization Heroic Heart.
There were 20 kitchens in Gaza at its height,
but now there are just four sizable kitchens left, each costing more than
$120,000 a month, because of a shortage of funding.
“We are feeding a few
thousand families with basic stews made from eggplants and zucchini grown
locally in Gaza,”
Piracha stated.
After 14 days of seeing destruction and
hopelessness, he said, the people of Gaza are now forced to wonder: Where is
the Muslim Ummah? Humanity is where?
How are the four Muslim Congress members raising
awareness about Gaza in Congress?
The four Muslim members of the US Congress—Andre
Carson, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Latifah Simon—along with non-Muslim
lawmaker Summer Lee, are actively raising awareness about Gaza by pledging to
bring the issue of grave human rights violations and the alleged genocide of
unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza to the US Congressional Human Rights
Commission.
They are pushing for formal congressional
hearings on the humanitarian crisis and exploring all possible ways to facilitate
the delivery of food and medical aid to besieged areas.
The lawmakers aim to bring visibility and
political pressure through congressional mechanisms, emphasizing that
“this is no longer a time for words but for action,” and urging
Congress to be visibly active in relief efforts.
