California Muslims Send 16,000+ Letters to Senators on Gaza

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) today announced figures of the letter-writing campaign that calls on California State senators to advocate for an end to the killing in Gaza.

Staff and volunteers of the Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization began the circulation of the letters on Tuesday July 22 during the Islamic month of Ramadan when Muslims held special prayers and other activities at mosques nationwide. More than 16,700 letters across the state of California have been signed to date.

The letters, which were hand-delivered to both Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein's offices, read in part:

"The U.S. government must not remain silent about Israel's unjust and disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in Gaza. The 'right of a nation to defend itself' does not extend to unrestrained aerial bombardments of civilian populations and must be condemned immediately."

"The response to our Gaza letter-writing campaign has been very enthusiastic," said CAIR-CA Chair, Safaa Ibrahim. "California residents are deeply concerned about the toll Israel's latest military campaign has taken on innocent civilians. They want to be sure elected officials hear their constituents' voices."

CAIR recently launched a new community service called "CAIR Connects" designed to enable American Muslims to share their concerns about important foreign policy issues with their elected representatives.