A delegation of Biden administration officials is scheduled to meet with Muslim and Arab American community leaders Thursday in Michigan, where dozens of state employees will vote “unvoted” in the upcoming Democratic primary. This was the day after the plan was announced.
The meeting in Detroit comes amid growing hostility toward President Biden among Muslims and Arab Americans, a large voting bloc in the Great Lakes state, over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists. Ta.
Tom Perez, Senior Advisor and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; Samantha Power, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development; John Finer, Chief of National Security Advisor; Mazen Basrou, Director of Partnerships and Global Engagement, National Security Council; Steve Benjamin, Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement; Jamie Citron, Principal Deputy Director, Office of Public Engagement; Biden administration officials participating in the White House-led effort will reportedly include Dan Coe, director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. multiple outlet.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre I teased the forum last week When the 81-year-old commander-in-chief traveled to Michigan to meet with autoworkers unions, officials told reporters that he “will speak directly to local leaders and their families on a variety of issues important to them.” He told the group. Israel and Gaza. ”
About a dozen Muslim and Arab-American elected officials from Michigan said the planned summit would spark “outrage” in the community and that some invited attendees expressed disapproval of Israel’s military action in Gaza. Following his announcement, he refused to meet with Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez last month. Campaign officials, not policy makers, were sent to the states.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud, one of the officials who refused to meet with the Biden campaign last month, clarified Wednesday: signed a pledge In the Michigan Democratic presidential primary on February 27, he decided to cast a “no-strings-attached vote” against Biden’s “destructive decision-making” regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
“Under the direction of President Joe Biden, our government failed to act to protect the lives of innocent men, women, and children,” Hammoud said on the X-Post. “Worse still, President Biden and his administration have suggested there is an exception to this rule when it comes to Palestinian lives.”
“Destructive decisions continue to be made to eliminate funding. [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency], the agency responsible for assisting millions of refugees suffering from hunger and starvation. and continuing billions of dollars of unrestricted U.S. taxpayer support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his radical government’s campaign of genocide. ”
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll of Palestinians in the nearly four-month war has reached 27,478. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally, but claims most of the dead were women and children.
“We want a better future and we will make our voices heard on February 27,” Hammoud said. “I invite you to join me in pledging to vote ‘Irresponsible’ in the upcoming presidential primary.”
written oathorganized by individuals under the banner of “multi-ethnic, multi-religious, anti-war”; “Listen to Michigan.” So far, 34 state and local officials have signed on.
The group calls the “ongoing tragedy in Gaza” an “insult to our common humanity” and demands that the Biden administration immediately “call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
Biden’s support among Arab Americans is due to his support for Israel in its war against Hamas, the terrorist organization that massacred about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240 in the Jewish state on October 7, 2023. It’s plummeting.
A John Zogby Strategies poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute last October found that only 17.4% of Arab American voters said they would vote for Biden in 2024.
The same poll in 2020 showed Biden’s approval rating among Arab Americans was 59%.
The White House and Biden campaign did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
