By: Malaak Sulieman
(CLEVELAND, OH – 05/27/2025) – On Friday, May 23rd, 2025, in response to the aid blockade, imposed by Israel since March 2nd, 2025. CAIR-Ohio, Doctors Against Genocide, Veterans for Peace, Jewish Voice for Peace, Cleveland Peace Action and others hosted an emergency press conference in Cleveland to bring awareness to the ongoing blockade as situations in Gaza continue to worsen. According to the Ministry of Health, there have been 57 children reported dead due to malnutrition since the blockade began on March 2nd.
During the press conference, CAIR-Ohio leadership, including Jenna Muhieddine, alongside Doctors Against Genocide Member Dr .Ahmad Jadallah, and more such as Basma Karaja and a US army veteran Louis Pumphrey, expressed their concerns and explained the effects of this ongoing blockade. Furthermore, in order to describe the results of the blockade Dr. Jadallah recounted the details included in the genocide UN health report, which gave a deeper understanding of the devastating outcomes that ensue from this blockade.
Doctors Against Genocide, Dr. Ahmad Jadallah statement-“What is happening there is affecting our healthcare here as the billions spent destroying lives there could be used to provide local healthcare dollars here. Also, I have spoken to a lot of community members here whose mental health has suffered as a result of this genocide and the frustration their concerns are not being addressed. This is not good for the Palestinian American community or those around them.”
Watch Doctor Ahmad J.’s Speech
CAIR-Ohio’s Engagement Coordinator, Jenna Muhieddine, stated, “Let’s stop softening the language. What’s happening in Gaza is not just a crisis. It is mass starvation by design. This is famine as a weapon of war. This is the purposeful denial of food, water, and medicine to over 2 million people—half of them children. And this is being done with American weapons, with Western complicity, and with global silence.”
Doctor’s Against Genocide UN Report
Moms and Grandma’s against Genocide, Basma Karaja, stated, “Mothers in Gaza carry their children twice. Once when they give them their life, and are born, and once when their lives are taken away.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR-OH Executive Director, Cleveland & Northern Ohio, Faten Odeh
(216) 440-2247, fodeh@cair.com