The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) today announced its decision to withdraw its support from this year’s Columbus City Council Ramadan Iftar (fast-breaking) event.

[NOTE: Ramadan is the month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and marital relations from break of dawn to sunset. Each evening at sunset, Muslims break their daily fast with a meal called an “iftar.”]

CAIR-Ohio said it is deeply troubled by the ongoing genocide in Palestine and cannot, in good conscience, partake in festivities with those who refuse to acknowledge the unimaginable suffering that our brothers and sisters in Palestine endure.

The City Council’s delay in passing a ceasefire resolution and the absence of supportive statements from Mayor Ginther, Council President Shannon Hardin, and Council Members Rob Doran, Nicholas Bankston, Nancy Day-Achauer, and Emmanuel Remy, represent glaring omissions in addressing the ongoing genocide. We thank Council Members Shayla Favors, Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, Melissa Green, and Christopher L. Wyche, who have personally called for a ceasefire after hearing from our communities; however, it remains crucial that the City of Columbus as whole take immediate action to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and address the surge in Islamophobia locally.

The staggering statistics of at least 31,726 lives lost, and more than 73,792 individuals injured in Gaza and the hundreds more in occupied West Bank, demand urgent attention and intervention. Federal, state, and local leaders, including our Council, must unequivocally stand against the atrocities being committed. It is our moral imperative to speak up when our government is funding and enabling this genocide and complicit in Israel’s human rights violations.

CAIR-Ohio is urging the Muslim community and allies to:

• Refrain from events that do not acknowledge or address the ongoing genocide
• Rescind and pause invitations to government officials until they recognize the violence and humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire

“We stand with and commend the community members who have continued to show up, pleading with the Council to call for a ceasefire, despite the intimidation and lack of support from the Council,” said CAIR-Ohio Executive Director Amina Barhumi. “This decision is a commitment of solidarity to stand with the oppressed, locally and abroad.”

CAIR’s national headquarters has encouraged leaders of mosques and Islamic centers nationwide to question any relevant public officials who visit their facilities during the upcoming month of Ramadan about their stance on the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, with three offices in Ohio – Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. The organization is dedicated to enhancing understanding of Islam, protecting civil rights, promoting justice, and empowering American Muslims.