Leader of top Muslim advocacy group tries to clean up alarming remarks about Hamas' attack on Israel

The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is attempting to clarify controversial remarks about Hamas' barbaric attack on Israel.

Speaking at the annual Convention for Palestine in the U.S. in Chicago last month, Nihad Awad admitted the Oct. 7 attack — which included Hamas murdering more than 1,200 innocent people, takings hundreds of hostages, and using rape as a weapon of war — made him "happy" because Palestinians were able to break through the "walls of the concentration camp."

Awad, who is Palestinian, said:

The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp on Oct. 7. And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their lands that they were not allowed to walk in. And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves. And yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense.

Later in the speech, Awad claimed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is controlling the U.S. government.

"AIPAC and its affiliates have been controlling the United States government and the United States Congress," he said. "And if someone says 'Oh, Nihad Awad said this about the Congress,' I tell you, 'Yes, I say it today, and I will say it tomorrow.' Unless we free Congress, we will not be able to free Palestine."

The remarks are jarring, not only because of their contents but because Awad leads the most prominent and influential Muslim advocacy group in the U.S.

Awad responded to concern about his remarks by claiming they were taken out of context in order to "create a completely false meaning." Instead of being happy because of the terrorist attack, Awad alleged his "happy" reference was about the "average Palestinians who briefly" entered Israel on Oct. 7.

"The average Palestinians who briefly walked out of Gaza and set foot on their ethnically cleansed land in a symbolic act of defiance against the blockade and stopped there without engaging in violence were within their rights under international law; the extremists who went on to attack civilians in southern Israel were not," Awad said. "Targeting civilians is unacceptable, no matter whether they are Israeli or Palestinian or any other nationality."

American Muslims for Palestine, the group that hosted the conference, has since removed the video of Awad's remarks.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!