By Adam Pagnucco.
Ten days ago, CASA – a nonprofit serving the immigrant community – issued a series of tweets on Israel that has cost it dearly, generating waves of protest from previously supportive elected officials and provoking a cutoff by one of its largest private funders. Minutes ago, the group released a new statement on the issue that is reprinted below.
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Contact: Jossie Flor Sapunar, CASA, jsapunar@wearecasa.org
CASA’s statement on Israel/Palestine: CASA’s Learning Lesson: In Seeking Peace
HYATTSVILLE, MD – CASA’s Executive Director Gustavo Torres issued the following statement.
Dear family, friends, partners, legislators, and community,
There is a humanitarian crisis in Israel and Palestine. With the mounting loss of innocent lives, we as a CASA community are calling for peace.
When we initially released a statement, we wanted to shine a spotlight directly on the innocent Israeli and Palestinian children and families caught in the midst of this horrendous conflict. We sought to condemn the violence and call for the protection of all civilians. This crisis echoes the violence CASA members have seen in their own home countries, from which many – myself included – have experienced horror, displacement and the loss of family members.
In doing so, we caused dear friends and partners pain. Our message was flawed, diminishing of Israeli people, hurtful to many of our Jewish allies, and counter to our goals of advancing peace. For that, I am sorry. We immediately took that statement down and removed the social media content.
We have apologized to our allies who have been harmed by our words and now do so to all of you. We wholeheartedly regret not reaching out to allies and communities grieving the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel when it occurred. In the weeks since then, we should have done deeper work to understand the crisis and the ways in which language is understood by people much closer to the situation. We grieve for all innocent lives lost in this latest conflict, no matter their faith or ethnic identity.
This has been a painful period of learning and growth, and we are grateful that so many of our partners have offered resources and guidance. And we are taking steps to put this learning into practice. We have upgraded our processes and will hold internal trainings on anti-Semitic, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim bias.
CASA has been a pillar for over 35 years in the community. For people forced to leave their home countries, a CASA office is one of their first stops for safety, community, legal services, English classes, youth education, and more. CASA’s health team kept people alive during the pandemic, leading COVID prevention efforts, participation in vaccine trials, and vaccine clinics that served tens of thousands. Many of you have hired CASA workers – day laborers who know how to paint or drywall your home or care for your children.
We believe in our organization, and CASA members truly believe in our work. As we move forward, we hope to regain the trust of those we have disappointed and hurt. We stand in solidarity with those advocating for peace and an end to the human suffering in Israel and Palestine. We hope to be able to do that together.
Gustavo Torres
Executive Director of CASA