CAIR-NY urges Sen. Schumer to retract statement against Hamas

Political Influence Operation

Date: June 14, 2010

Description:

On June 14 CAIR-New York accused Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who faces reelection in November, of making statements that were “unconscionable, reprehensible and in blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life,” and demanded he retract them. CAIR lifted a quote from Schumer’s remarks at a public event on June 9 that it “makes sense” to “strangle [Gaza] economically,” while omitting the context of the statement in which Schumer made clear that his criticism was reserved for the Hamas regime and that “certainly there should be humanitarian aid and people not starving to death.”  The full quote follows:

The boycott of Gaza to me has another purpose — obviously the first purpose is to prevent Hamas from getting weapons by which they will use to hurt Israel — but the second is actually to show the Palestinians that when there’s some moderation and cooperation, they can have an economic advancement. When there’s total war against Israel, which Hamas wages, they’re going to get nowhere. And to me, since the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas, while certainly there should be humanitarian aid and people not starving to death, to strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go, makes sense.

Source(s):

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=403382074441

(PDF)

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/11/schumer-strangle-gaza-economically/

(PDF)

Actions:

• On June 16 the Center for Security Policy sent a letter to Senator Charles Schumer concerning CAIR’s unregistered foreign agent status and identifying CAIR’s urging Mr. Schumer to retract his statement as a foreign influence operation.  A copy of the letter was also sent to Bureau Chief Heather Hunt of the Foreign Agents Registration Unit at the Department of Justice.