As civically engaged Muslim constituents of CD3, we sit at the intersection of faith and action.  We take this opportunity to highlight injustices that combine our faith guided moral imperatives with our real world ability to implement change. 

Recent statements by Congressman Tom Suozzi regarding the indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians, including terrorism perpetrated upon peaceful worshippers at Al- Aqsa Mosque are dangerous, insensitive and have the potential to increase violence against Muslims in Palestine and here in the US as we have witnessed two mosques being vandalized in the past week.

In response to his biased statements, the Muslim community gathered for a meeting with the Congressman on May 19, 2021.  The following is a synopsis of what transpired: 

In attendance were several local Muslim community leaders including representatives from the Muslim Community of Nassau County (the umbrella organizations for mosques and Islamic religious organizations in Nassau County), Majlis Ash-Shura: Islamic Leadership Council of New York, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Muslims For Progress met with Representative Tom Suozzi (D-NY) to discuss the alarming situation in Palestine.

He was confronted regarding his original tweet on May 10, 2021 which strongly condemned Hamas rocket attacks but did not condemn Israeli aggression on civilians and places of worship including Al-Aqsa. Although his subsequent tweets on the issue called for dignity for all sides and eventually called for a ceasefire two days ago, we impressed on him our concerns regarding Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the continued brutal occupation and relentless human rights abuses. We pointed out that he had neglected to address these serious issues and urged him to take a principled stance.

At this meeting, Rep. Suozzi refused to even condemn the killing of children in Gaza and simply addressed these horrendous atrocities as “casualties of war.” However, after being pressed, he reluctantly agreed to future meetings to discuss these issues further and consider consulting with the Muslim community on these matters in the future. 

 We encourage everyone to contact Tom Suozzi’s office at 631-923-4100 to demand that he condemn Israeli occupation, human rights abuses and war crimes. Ask him to support HR 2590 to promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians and cosponsor a new resolution introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez disapproving of the Biden administration’s sale of $735 million in joint direct attack munitions (JDAM’s) to Israel.