US Muslim group calls for hate crime probe into pro-Israel leader after alleged attack on protestors

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Muslim civil rights and advocacy group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called Thursday for a hate crime investigation into a pro-Israel leader over an alleged attack against protestors outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Ezra Weinblatt, a board member of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, was arrested after allegedly attacking anti-war protestors and destroying their property outside the embassy on Tuesday.

CAIR also called for law enforcement to prosecute Weinblatt to the full extent of the law.

According to a statement by the group, Weinblatt allegedly got out of his vehicle, approached a group of Palestinian demonstrators, threw their audio equipment into the street and struck a female demonstrator in the face.

He has been charged with destruction of property and simple assault.

In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said the level violence by some pro-Israel extremists against advocates for Palestinian human rights is "completely unacceptable."

"We welcome the arrest of Ezra Weinblatt, and we call on law enforcement to consider hate crime charges against him," said Mitchell.

Over the past six months, protests have been raging nationwide against the Israeli government’s attacks on Gaza.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,800 others have been injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.