Washington — The atmosphere at the White House celebration of Ramadan this year is starkly different from last year. While in 2021 President Biden was met with cheers and declarations of love from attendees, this year's iftar dinner was a more subdued affair. In light of Muslim Americans' discontent over the administration's stance on Israel's actions in Gaza, the White House opted for a smaller gathering on Tuesday night, limited to staff members.
Wa'el Alzayat, a leader at Emgage, an advocacy group for Muslims, expressed disappointment at the shift in tone, calling the situation "completely surreal" and "sad." Despite attending the previous year's event, Alzayat turned down this year's invitation, citing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a reason not to partake in festivities.
Following refusals from Alzayat and others, the White House altered its plans and proposed a meeting centered on administration policies. However, Alzayat declined once more, feeling that the short notice did not allow for adequate preparation to discuss and potentially influence Mr. Biden's views on the conflict.
"I believe the format is not conducive to a serious policy conversation," he mentioned on Tuesday.
A White House official stated to CBS News that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held a meeting with Muslim leaders along with senior administration officials.
The official statement expressed that President Biden and Vice President Harris understand the deep pain felt by many in the Muslim and Arab communities during this time. President Biden emphasized his sorrow for the loss of innocent lives in the conflict and reiterated his dedication to working towards an immediate ceasefire, aiming to secure the release of hostages and increase humanitarian aid to Gaza significantly.
Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an ER doctor of Palestinian descent based in Chicago who recently visited Gaza, was present at the meeting.
According to CBS News, Ahmad mentioned that President Biden's comments were vague. Ahmad then addressed the attendees and left in protest after handing the president a letter supposedly written by an 8-year-old orphan named Hadeel, currently seeking refuge in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza. Ahmad expressed disappointment at being the sole Palestinian invited to the White House meeting.
Democratic sources told CBS News that a number of Arab Americans who supported Mr. Biden in 2020 were disappointed that they weren't invited to the meeting and suspect they were excluded because of their recent social media posts about the president's Israel-Hamas war policies.
It wasn't clear how the White House selected the attendees.
Political clouds thickening
The refusal to break bread — or even share a room — with the president showed how fractured the relationship between Mr. Biden and the Muslim American community has become in the six months since the latest Israel-Hamas conflict began.
When the Democratic president took office three years ago, many Muslim leaders were eager to turn the page on Donald Trump's bigotry, including his campaign pledge to implement a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."
But now Democrats fear that Mr. Biden's loss of support among Muslims could help clear a path for his Republican predecessor to return to the White House. This year's election will likely hinge on a handful of battleground states, including Michigan, which has a large Muslim population.
"There are real differences between the two," Alzayat said. "But emotionally, there may be no differences for some folks. And that's the danger."
He added, "It's not good enough to tell people Donald Trump is going to be worse."
Several Muslim leaders attended Tuesday's meeting. The White House wouldn't name them.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned that "community leaders expressed the preference" for a "working group meeting," which she described as an opportunity to "get feedback from them."
Regarding the iftar, Jean-Pierre stated that President Biden would "continue his tradition of honoring the Muslim community during Ramadan."
Neither the iftar nor the meeting with community leaders were open to journalists, a departure from previous years. These events were not listed on the president's public schedule. Some individuals who had attended in the past, such as Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, did not receive invitations.
Outside the White House, activists gathered in Lafayette Park on Tuesday evening for their own iftar in the rain. Organizers provided dates, a traditional Ramadan food, for individuals to break their fasts at sundown.
The decision to boycott Mr. Biden's invitation is reminiscent of a previous trip White House officials made to Detroit, where they were met with a cool reception from Muslim American community leaders. In the swing state, over 100,000 Democratic primary voters cast protest votes for "uncommitted" in disapproval of Mr. Biden's approach to the war.
A similar campaign was taking place in Wisconsin, another key political battleground. Organizers were urging residents to vote "uninstructed," which is equivalent to uncommitted, in the Democratic primary held on Tuesday.
On October 7th, the conflict erupted with Hamas launching a surprise attack that resulted in the death of 1,200 Israelis. In retaliation, Israel's actions have led to the deaths of approximately 33,000 Palestinians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. While the exact number of combatants among the casualties remains unclear, Israel has accused them of operating within civilian areas. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that two-thirds of the deceased were women and children.
Despite President Biden's calls for Israeli leaders to exercise caution to prevent civilian casualties and his push for increased humanitarian aid access to Gaza, the Biden administration has continued to greenlight weapon sales to Israel.
Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has urged fellow Muslim leaders to reject White House invitations unless President Biden advocates for a cease-fire. Awad emphasized the importance of the President's intervention, stating that a simple phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could halt the conflict by halting weapon transfers.
Awad's recent stance against the White House follows his previous disagreements with the administration regarding his remarks on the Hamas attack on October 7th. He expressed satisfaction in seeing individuals defy the longstanding blockade enforced by Israel, with support from Egypt, enabling them to freely access their restricted land.
Following the circulation of comments by a Middle East research organization founded by Israeli analysts, the White House has released a statement denouncing "these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms."
Awad dismissed it as a "fabricated controversy" and mentioned that he had condemned the targeting of Israeli citizens in the same speech.
