To honor Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, the White House had a quiet iftar dinner. Leaders of the Muslim world didn’t show up because they didn’t agree with President Joe Biden’s view on Israel’s war in Gaza.
Why Biden’s White House Iftar Unravelled Amid Gaza War
Two people who know what’s going on say that the White House called off an iftar meal for Ramadan because some Muslim Americans declined to attend to protest President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
The event was called off because so many people, even those who had agreed to go, did not show up, according to Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The fact that the iftar was canceled shows how hard it is for Biden to calm down the Arab and Muslim communities in the US who are getting more and more angry at him for always supporting Israel.People who are against Biden say that the anger could hurt him when he runs for president in November.
US Support For Israel
The Biden administration has said it will not condition or stop the flow of weapons to Israel, even though Israel is doing more and more bad things. There were times when the Biden administration said it was worried about what the Israeli government was doing. However, it was also very clear that it was committed to the alliance with Israel.
Biden Has Fraught Meeting With Muslim Leaders After Several Snubbed Iftar Invite
After being turned down, the White House changed the event’s purpose to a meeting about policy to make the people who were invited happy, but some supporters were still not sure. Biden did meet with a small group of Muslim leaders on Tuesday after all. It was tense at the meeting, which shows how unpopular the president is with the people because of how he treats Israel.
The Meeting Was Marked By Frustration And A Walkout
Biden left after a tense meeting with Muslim leaders that lasted more than an hour. A Palestinian-American doctor from the United States left before the meeting was over. CNN said that it was “possibly the most personal moment of protest the president has faced to date.” Before he left, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, who had been to Gaza earlier this year, told Biden that he was upset that he was the only Palestinian at the meeting. He told Biden that Israel should not go ahead with its plan to attack Rafah.
The meeting was a “rare chance to confront the president directly,” according to one Muslim who went. Other people were upset that there were no clear goals for what to do next. “It really felt like a PR move to be able to say we met with the Muslim community,” a guest said.
Political Implications
The fact that the event was so small shows that the conflict between Israel and Gaza is making things hard for the Biden administration politically. Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim Americans are some of the groups that are getting more involved in politics and unhappy. Biden has a problem with this, especially in states like Michigan that are close races and have a lot of Muslim Americans in power.
In a statement, the White House said, “President Biden and Vice President Harris know this is a very painful time for many in the Muslim and Arab people.” The person in charge also said that the event was important.
Conclusion
This year’s iftar dinner at the White House had to be canceled because Muslim leaders didn’t want to go because they didn’t agree with President Biden’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. That is a clear sign of how tough it is for the government to handle the anger of Arab and Muslim Americans. This event shows a bigger problem with unhappiness, and it could hurt Biden politically, especially since elections are coming up soon.
