By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services)
A group of four Muslim members of the US Congress, Andre Carson, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Latifah Simon, along with non-Muslim lawmaker Summer Lee, pledged on Saturday to bring the issue of human rights violations and the alleged genocide of unarmed Palestinian civilians in Gaza to the US Congressional Human Rights Commission.
During a meeting in Oakland with a delegation from the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the lawmakers assured they would push for formal congressional hearings on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and explore all possible avenues to facilitate the delivery of food and medical aid to besieged areas.
The ICNA delegation, led by Dr. Asim Asad, included members who travelled from across the United States, Florida, Dallas, Sacramento, and San Jose. Dr Bilal Piracha, Junaid Qureshi, Ariful Haque Arif, Ijaz Arif and Dr Jawad Arif met with the lawmakers.
The meeting was organized in coordination with the US American Muslim Public Affairs Committee (USAMPAC) whose president, Istefa Zaidi, hosted a reception dinner in honour of the congressional guests.
“There are 10 million Muslims in USA but are shown less than the original population. If we count ourselves half of it (five million,) there should be 15 Muslim members in the congress but now we are only five members we have to strive for getting elected 10 more members but this objective cannot be achieved without unity in our ranks,” the USAMPAC leader remarked.
The ICNA delegation invited Dr Bilal Piracha, a physician who had returned just three days earlier from Gaza, to brief lawmakers on the worsening situation.
Piracha, speaking at the event, delivered an emotional and graphic account of the destruction he witnessed, calling on members of Congress to personally visit the Gaza border and lead convoys of aid trucks into the region.
"This is no longer a time for words but for action. Let members of Congress be seen, let the world see that we cannot stay silent while genocide unfolds. Even if we are arrested or blocked, the message must be sent: enough is enough," he stated.
He also appealed, through a viral social media video, to Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, urging him to leverage his growing rapport with former US President Donald Trump to pressure American leadership into halting what he described as “the systematic extermination of Palestinians.”
Piracha further urged Pakistan’s military to coordinate with Egypt and Jordan to send relief goods, including food and medicine, via C-1 transport planes through the Rafah border crossing.
Describing this as his third medical relief mission to Gaza, Dr. Piracha said the current conditions were “far worse and utterly inhumane” compared to his previous visits.
"Continuous bombings, bloodshed, and a flood of injured women, children, and the elderly in hospitals that are barely functioning which is a humanitarian catastrophe,” he reckoned.
He noted that World Central Kitchen, which had been providing one meal per day, ceased operations a week ago.
He revealed that many victims lay unattended as the fear of sniper fire deterred efforts to retrieve bodies. His team, granted access through the World Health Organization (WHO) and humanitarian group Heroic Heart, included 30 volunteers who worked in extreme conditions.
