Alzayat attended last year’s event, but he declined an invitation to break his fast with Biden this year, saying, “It’s inappropriate to do such a celebration while there’s a famine going on in Gaza.”…reports Asian Lite News
Last year, President Joe Biden hadn’t even spoken a word at the White House celebration of Ramadan before someone shouted out “we love you.” Hundreds of Muslims were there to mark the end of the holy month that requires fasting from sunrise to sunset.
There are no such joyous scenes during this Ramadan. With many Muslim Americans outraged over Biden’s support for Israel’s siege of Gaza, the White House chose to hold a smaller iftar dinner on Tuesday evening. The only attendees were people who work for his administration.
“We’re just in a different world,” said Wa’el Alzayat, who leads Emgage, a Muslim advocacy organization. “It’s completely surreal. And it’s sad.”
Alzayat attended last year’s event, but he declined an invitation to break his fast with Biden this year, saying, “It’s inappropriate to do such a celebration while there’s a famine going on in Gaza.”
After rejections from Alzayat and others, he said the White House adjusted its plans Monday, telling community leaders that it wanted to host a meeting focused on administration policy. Alzayat still said no, believing that one day was not enough time to prepare for an opportunity to sway Biden’s mind on the conflict.
“I don’t think the format will lend itself to a serious policy discussion,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
The refusal to break bread — or even share a room — with the president is fresh evidence of how fractured the relationship between Biden and the Muslim community has become six months after Israel and Hamas began their current war.
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 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 with its significant 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 with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Muslim government officials and national security leaders. The White House would not name them.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “community leaders expressed the preference” of having a “working group meeting,” which she described as an opportunity to “get feedback from them.”
As far as the iftar, Jean-Pierre said that “the president is going to continue his tradition of honoring the Muslim community during Ramadan.”
No journalists were allowed to capture either the iftar or the meeting with community leaders, a change from previous years. Neither was listed on the president’s public schedule. Some people who had attended events in previous years, such as Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn, Michigan, were not invited.
Outside the White House, activists gathered in the rain for their own iftar on Tuesday evening in Lafayette Park. Organizers distributed dates, a traditional food for Ramadan, for people to break their fasts at sundown.
The boycotting of Biden’s invitation is reminiscent of a trip that White House officials took to Detroit earlier this year. They faced an icy reception from Muslim American community leaders in the swing state, where more than 100,000 Democratic primary voters cast protest votes for “uncommitted” as part of an organized showing of disapproval for Biden’s approach to the war.
A similar campaign was underway in Wisconsin, another political battleground. Organizers encouraged residents to vote “uninstructed,” the equivalent of uncommitted, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
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