U.S. President Joe Biden is losing support among the U.S. Arab and Muslim communities because of his unconditional support for Israel.
US presidents have hosted Iftar for prominent Muslim Americans at the White House every Ramadan for two decades. Preparations for Iftar were going on this time, but the event was canceled on Tuesday.
Instead of an iftar, the White House said it would host a meal for only Muslim government employees and hold separate meetings with a few figures from the Muslim American community.
According to Al Jazeera’s report, this year’s Iftar event at the White House has been canceled because Muslim Americans rejected US President Joe Biden’s Iftar invitation. The backlash came in response to support for Israel in the Gaza war.
Leaders declined to attend the invitation on Tuesday after members of the Muslim community warned leaders against attending the White House invitation, two people said on condition of anonymity.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the event was canceled because many of the invitees, including those who initially agreed to go, showed reluctance to attend the iftar.
He told Al Jazeera, “The American Muslim community said from the very beginning that it would not be acceptable for us to dine with the same White House that is helping the Israeli government to starve and kill Palestinians in Gaza.”
CNN and NPR reported last Monday that the White House is preparing for a small-scale iftar. . However, on Tuesday, the White House announced that instead of an iftar, they would host a meal for only Muslim government employees and hold separate meetings with some figures from the Muslim American community.
The cancellation of the Iftar highlighted Biden’s failure to stem growing anger in the US Arab and Muslim communities over his unconditional support for Israel. Critics warn the outrage could spell trouble at the ballot box for Biden in November’s presidential election.
For the past two decades, US presidents have been hosting Iftar with prominent Muslim Americans. Iftar in Ramadan served as a celebration of the Muslim community to mirror other religious and cultural events at the White House.
White House spokeswoman Karyn Jean-Pierre confirmed that Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, will meet with Muslim leaders instead of iftar. He told reporters, “They wanted to ensure an opportunity to discuss important issues.” They find it more important than iftar. We have also heard it and arranged accordingly.’
Several US Muslim rights activists said the meeting would be another pointless photo session, noting that the Muslim community has made its position known over the past six months. “The White House has not changed their position, no matter how many meetings we’ve had, no matter how many discussions we’ve had,” said Mohammed Habbeh, director of development at American Muslims for Palestine, adding that he “cares about the Muslim American community” as long as Biden’s support for Israel continues. can’t do
Habeh told Al Jazeera, “Through these photo sessions and discussions, they want to somehow show that the Muslim community still supports them.” These are just pathetic attempts to make themselves look good after their true colors come out.’
The Biden administration has held several off-the-record meetings with Arab and Muslim communities across the United States since the Gaza war began.
