Washington DC – The White House canceled a Ramadan iftar after several Muslim Americans declined the invitation to protest President Joe Biden’s support for Israel. war against Gazaaccording to two people familiar with the matter.
The sources, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday’s cancellation came after members of the Muslim community warned leaders against attending the White House meal.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), also said the event was canceled because many people chose not to attend, including guests who had initially agreed to attend. ‘go.
“The American Muslim community said early on that it would be completely unacceptable for us to break bread with the White House, the very one that allows the Israeli government to starve and slaughter the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Mitchell told Al Jazeera.
CNN and NPR reported Monday that the White House was planning a small community iftar.
But hours later, on Tuesday, the White House announced that it would host a meal just for Muslim government members and hold a separate meeting with some senior figures in the American Muslim community.
Canceled iftar highlights Biden’s struggle to contain growing anger in American Arab and Muslim communities for his unconditional support for Israel.
Critics warn that the outrage could translate into peril for Biden at the polls in November’s presidential election.
‘We listened,’ says White House
Over the past two decades, U.S. presidents have held iftars with dozens of prominent Muslim Americans. Like other religious and cultural events held at the White House, Ramadan meals have served as a celebration of the Muslim community and are traditionally open to the press.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that Biden and his vice president Kamala Harris will meet with Muslim “community leaders” on Tuesday.
When asked why the “community leaders” would not attend the iftar, Jean-Pierre replied that they had requested a meeting instead of a meal.
“They wanted to make sure there was an opportunity to discuss the issues at hand,” she told reporters.
“They thought it would be important to do this. And so, we listened, we heard, and we adjusted the format to be responsive.
Several American Muslim activists said the meeting would be another futile “photo op,” arguing that the Muslim community had made its position known over the past six months.
“No matter how many meetings we have, no matter how many people are there, no matter how many conversations are happening, the White House has refused to change,” said Mohamad Habehh, development director at American Muslims for Palestine .
Habehh stressed that Biden cannot claim to care about the American Muslim community if he does not end his support for Israel.
“These photo ops they are doing – these discussions they are doing to somehow show that they still have the support of the Muslim community – are just pathetic attempts to make themselves look good at a time when their true colors were seen. » Habehh told Al Jazeera.
The Biden administration has organized several informal meetings with some Arabs and Muslims across the country since the start of the war in Gaza.
“Selected by the White House”
A major problem with these negotiations, activists say, is that the administration chose who to meet with.
A Muslim advocate close to the administration presented a list of credible Palestinian American leaders to invite to a meeting at the White House last year, but the government rejected the suggested individuals, a source told Al Jazeera.
Emgage, a Muslim political advocacy group that supported Biden in 2020, said it received an invitation to Tuesday’s meeting but declined to attend, citing unconditional U.S. support for Israel and the rising death toll in Gaza.
“In this moment of immense pain and suffering, we have asked the White House to postpone this gathering and convene an appropriate political meeting with representatives chosen by the community, rather than those selected by the White House,” he said. said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage. said in a statement.
Emgage laid out a list of demands for Biden, including an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire, resumption of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees. Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and a “legitimate political path” for a Palestinian state.
“Emgage stands ready to support efforts that substantively engage with the above priorities. However, without more Palestinian voices and policy experts in the room, we do not believe today’s meeting will provide such an opportunity,” Alzayat said.
Hebah Kassem, a Palestinian-American political strategist, echoed this concern.
“The administration is strategically selecting who should be at the table, and they are choosing people who are unlikely to criticize their actions and policies,” Kassem told Al Jazeera.
“Why do we allow them to choose who represents us? These meetings brought no changes. On the contrary, Biden double his support for Israel and increased the supply of weapons to Israel.
American support for Israel
The Biden administration has ruled out conditioning or stopping the flow of weapons to Israel despite rising Israeli atrocities.
The Israeli offensive has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians, destroyed large parts of Gaza and pushed the territory towards the on the verge of starvation.
Although the Biden administration has at times expressed concerns about the actions of the Israeli government, it has regularly affirmed its commitment to the alliance with Israel.
On Tuesday, for example, the White House expressed outrage over the Israeli attack that left seven people dead. Central cuisine of the world humanitarian workers.
Still, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the United States would not impose “some sort of condition around its (Israel’s) neck.”
“We’re always going to make sure they can defend themselves,” he said.
Abed Ayoub, executive director of the Arab American Committee Against Discrimination (ADC), said Biden’s unwavering support for Israel shows that meetings with administration officials on Gaza have not worked.
“We must measure the effectiveness of these meetings through results and actions by the administration,” he told Al Jazeera. “The administration knows where we stand; they don’t need to hear it again.
But Salima Suswell, the leader of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, said it was important for Biden to hear the perspectives of Muslim Americans directly. She attended Tuesday’s meeting at the White House.
“The president must understand that black Muslims and black Americans are devastated by the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, by the loss of so many lives and by the administration’s support for the attack,” Suswell told Al Jazeera in an email before the meeting.
“The president has an election coming up, and black and Muslim voters will play a central role. I want to make it clear to him what the stakes are if he doesn’t act.”